Ahmedabad: The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has informed Gujarat High Court that it does not intend to demolish the remaining houses in Nasirnagar at present. The illegal razing of nearly 100 houses on May 30 has brought the role of top SMC officials under scrutiny and five of them have been suspended.A petition was filed by the remaining residents of Nasirnagar, seeking to restrain SMC from demolishing their houses without following any procedure. In response, the civic body submitted that as far as their properties are concerned, the corporation did not intend to demolish the same as of now. In case the corporation seeks to take any such step, it would take appropriate steps in accordance with law. It would issue appropriate notice and follow the procedure in accordance with the law.HC disposed of this petition after this assurance and a submission on the part of SMC that this issue is being deliberated by the court in another petition filed by the affected residents, in which they questioned the legality of the demolition and sought alternative accommodation.In the pending litigation, HC has been questioning the state govt over its decision of retaining M Nagarajan as municipal commissioner even as a high-level committee has been set up to inquire into the commissioner’s alleged role of issuing informal instructions through a WhatsApp message to his subordinates to take up the operation in Nasirnagar.One of the suspended officers, executive engineer Sujal Prajapati, has challenged his suspension, claiming that he had acted on the municipal commissioner’s order, and his action was later applauded by the commissioner.
