The Bombay High Court set aside a resolution passed by the Grampanchayat obstructing installation of mobile towers for being found devoid of any authority in law and illegal
Title: Indus Towers v. Grampanchayat
Decided on: July 20, 2023
Citation: 2023 SCC OnLine Bom 1472
CORAM: HON’BLE JUSTICE SUNIL B. SHUKRE AND JUSTICE RAJESH S. PATIL
Introduction
The Bombay High Court set aside a resolution passed by the Grampanchayat obstructing installation of mobile towers, for being found devoid of any authority in law and as such illegal
Facts of the Case
The petitioner has approached the Court challenged Resolution No.7 passed by the respondent-Grampanchayat, directing the petitioner to stop the further work relating to erection of mobile tower, on the ground that some of the villagers have taken objection for erection of the mobile tower, because they believe that the radiation emitted by the mobile tower is harmful to the health of the villagers and can possibly be carcinogenic. The Grampanchayat has opposed this.
Court Analysis and Judgement:
The Court took the view that role of the Grampanchayat is confined to only issuing of No Objection Certificate and if any NOC has been issued by the Grampanchayat, the Grampanchayat loses its control over the subject of erection of mobile tower. In the present case, the Grampanchayat, has already issued no objection certificate dated 30 June 2022 in favour of the petitioner in the matter of erection of mobile tower in the vicinity of the Grampanchayat and, therefore, could not have passed another resolution, Resolution No. 7, directing the petitioner to stop further work of erection of the mobile tower. The impugned resolution passed by the Grampanchayat was found devoid of any authority in law and as such is illegal. The Court also took the view that the villagers’ ground related to their apprehension about the radiation emitted by the mobile tower being harmful to their health and having the effect of causing cancer to the villagers is unfounded and baseless. The Court cited the case of Biju K. Balan v. State of Maharashtra, where it was held that there is no scientific material or data warranting prohibition on installation of mobile tower and that jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India cannot be exercised on the basis of apprehensions, which are not rooted in facts and which are not supported by reliable scientific material. Here also the Court found that the apprehension of villagers was unscientific and without any basis. The Court also held that if any agency or institution or person seeks to deny a benefit or right to another on a special ground has a special burden of proof to establish the soundness of such a ground. But, in the present case, the respondent-Grampanchayat has failed to discharge the special burden of proof which was on its shoulders. Therefore, the Court quashed the impugned resolution, Resolution No. 7, and set it aside and ordered that the respondents cannot obstruct.
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Written by- Reema Nayak
