High court directs AP govt not to process building penalization scheme applications

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh high court on Wednesday directed the state govt not to process any application filed under the Building Penalisation Scheme (BPS). Directing the state govt to file a counter affidavit in a PIL filed challenging the BPS, the High Court asked the petitioner to submit the judgments of the combined High Court and the Supreme Court on the subject.One Chinnaboyina Harikrishna from Prakasam district moved the High Court challenging the GO 225 issued by the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) department, notifying the Andhra Pradesh Regulation and Penalisation of Buildings constructed unauthorisedly and in deviation of sanctioned plan rules. The state govt amended multiple laws to enable the BPS to apply to buildings constructed till August 31, 2025.Arguing on behalf of the petitioner, advocate Vivekananda Virupakasha told the High Court that the said GO and amendments made to various laws for the introduction of the BPS were in violation of the judgments of the Supreme Court and the combined High Court. He said that the combined High Court earlier said that the BPS issued in 2015 should be the last one, and there cannot be any scheme in future.He also mentioned the recent Supreme Court order in which the apex court observed that illegal constructions should be curtailed with iron hands. The counsel for MAUD sought time to file a detailed counter on the subject matter.Considering the submissions on both sides, the High Court bench headed by Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Challa Gunaranjan directed the state govt not to process any application received under the BPS until further orders, and directed the state govt to file a counter affidavit. The bench also directed the petitioner's counsel to submit all the judgments on the subject matter.According to GO 225, the state govt identified 59041 unauthorised constructions across the state, including 49056 deviations from the sanctioned plan and 9985 additional floors constructed over and above approved floors.