Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Monday directed builder N Kumar to deposit ₹41.37 lakh within two weeks to cover the cost of demolishing illegal constructions at Poonam Chambers and Poonam Tower.A division bench comprising Justices Anil Pansare and Nivedita Mehta passed the order after the civic body submitted detailed cost estimates. The court was informed that ₹31.4 lakh would be required to remove unauthorised structures at Poonam Chambers in the cantonment area, while ₹9.97 lakh would be needed for demolition work at Poonam Tower near Vidhan Bhavan.Hearing petitions filed by Kumar and his firm challenging demolition notices issued by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), the court had earlier directed the civic body to proceed with the demolition and submit a comprehensive estimate, copies of which were shared with the petitioner. Acting on these directions, the NMC initiated demolition, a substantial portion of which has already been completed.The civic body informed the court that nearly 80% of the demolition work in the parking area of Poonam Chambers has been completed, with the remaining work currently underway. It assured the bench that the entire demolition exercise would be finished by April 10. The matter has been posted for further hearing on April 16.At an earlier hearing, the judges noted that the petitioner had given a written undertaking to the court to remove the illegal constructions but failed to honour the assurance. The bench said the issue of non-compliance would be examined at a later stage and reiterated its direction to the civic body to complete the demolition.The case stems from an original public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Vijay Babhare, alleging that the multi-storey building—long embroiled in controversy—was constructed with serious irregularities and posed a potential security threat to the nearby Vidhan Bhavan and the Reserve Bank of India building. The petition traces the dispute back to 2016, terming the construction illegal and seeking its demolition.
