The board officials who arrived at 79, M G Road to demolish illegal portions of the building recently, were sent back by the officials of a nationalised bank, tenants of the illegal portion, thanks to a stay order obtained by them.

In yet another case at 2421, East Street (East Street Galleria), the cantonment executive officer J Sharma discovered that the unauthorised portions of the second floor had been sold by the builder to a certain party who in turn sold this portion to another party. The cantonment board now finds itself with three notices issued against it for prevention of demolition proceedings.

In yet another case, the owners of 1598, Bhimpura were going ahead with unauthorised construction inspite of the notice issued by the board under the Cantonments Act of 1924. The cantonmment executive officer has warned residents against entering into any kind of transaction to create any sort of title, right or interest in respect of this property making it clear that the board would not be responsible for any consequences that may arise in case of a demolition. The board has now issued a public notice in this regard.

Despite all such caution notices, illegal transactions continue to take place leading to a lot of infructuous litigations, Sharma stated, cautioning the public to strictly follow the procedure laid down and enquire about the legality of the construction from the cantonment board.

In a statement issued here, he stated that government undertakings must ensure the verification of title of any premises before they enter into any agreement with the owner. He intends to approach the higher authorities of the nationlised bank so that the necessary instructions will be issued to avoid the awkward situation of one government department coming in the way of taking action against illegal construction by a statutory body like the cantonment board.