Madhya Pradesh High Court Directs 10-Member Team To Identify And Remove Encroachments In Jabalpur

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the district administration in Jabalpur to take coordinated action against illegal encroachments in the Gol Bazar locality, observing that unchecked encroachments cannot be allowed to obstruct public movement or undermine civic administration.

The court passed the directions while disposing of a writ petition filed by Jaideep Shah, a senior citizen and permanent resident of Gol Bazar, who complained that authorities had failed to discharge their statutory duties by allowing both temporary and permanent encroachments to proliferate in the locality.

According to the petition, the continuing encroachments had severely affected free movement of residents and had become a routine problem, with little effective intervention from the civic authorities.

Taking note of the grievance, a Division Bench comprising Justice Vivek Agarwal and Justice Ratnesh Chandra Singh Bisen observed that the issue raised by the petitioner required coordinated administrative action involving district authorities, police officials and municipal officers so that the problem could be addressed in a structured and time bound manner.

The court therefore directed the Collector of Jabalpur to constitute a ten-member team to inspect the Gol Bazar area and identify all unauthorized encroachments, whether temporary or permanent.

The team, the court said, must include a Senior Additional Collector, a Senior Additional Superintendent of Police, an Additional Commissioner from the Municipal Corporation Jabalpur, the Chief Executive Officer of Jabalpur Smart City Limited, and the Municipal Officer in charge of encroachment drives.

The bench further directed that five representatives from the public should also be included in the inspection team so that the exercise reflects local concerns and ground realities. At least three of these representatives must be residents of the Gol Bazar locality, including the petitioner himself, a senior doctor with over twenty years of experience residing in the area, and a senior advocate who has lived in the locality for more than two decades.

The court directed that the committee must conduct a detailed inspection and submit its report within thirty days from the date of communication of the order.

Upon receiving the report, the Collector has been asked to consult with the Municipal Commissioner and ensure removal of all identified encroachments within a further period of thirty days.

The High court emphasised that the authorities must act promptly once encroachments are identified, ensuring that public spaces and roads remain accessible to residents and are not obstructed by illegal occupations.

To ensure transparency and accountability, the bench further directed that the entire process of identifying and removing encroachments should be videographed by the district administration. The videography, the court said, must be placed on record along with the compliance report to be filed before the court after completion of the exercise.

Recording the directions, the bench stated that the administration shall complete the entire exercise within the stipulated timelines and place a compliance report before the court.

The matter has been listed for consideration of the compliance report on June 22, 2026.

Case Title: Jaideep Shah v. The State of Madhya Pradesh and Others

Date of Order: March 6, 2026

Bench: Justice Vivek Agarwal and Justice Ratnesh Chandra Singh Bisen