1 OD – 6 IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA Civil Appellate Jurisdiction ORIGINAL SIDE WPO/74/2020 HILLMAN DEVELOPERS (P) LTD AND ANR VS THE KOLKATA MUNICIPAL CORPORATION AND ORS BEFORE : THE HON’BLE JUSTICE DEBANGSU BASAK And THE HON’BLE JUSTICE MD. SHABBAR RASHIDI Date : 11th February, 2025 Appearance : Mr. Arindam Banerjee, Sr. Adv. (VC) Ms. Sibangi Chattopadhyay, Adv. ..for the petitioner. Mr. Alak Kumar Ghosh, Adv. Mr. Arijit Dey, Adv. …for the KMC. The Court : The writ petition being WPO/74/2020 was specially assigned to a Division Bench by an order dated January 20, 2025 passed by the Hon’ble Chief Justice. The writ petitioner seeks cancellation of the list of heritage building (pending) being Annexure P-5 to the writ petition and a direction for issuance of no objection certificate by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation authorities in respect of premises no.15, Sovabazar Street, Kolkata – 700 005. 2 The writ petitioner and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation are represented. Attention of the Court is drawn to three judgments of the Division Bench; two of which are by the co-ordinate Bench and one by this Bench. The issue of delisting immovable property from the list of heritage building under the provisions of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980 received consideration of the co-ordinate Bench in two appeals being APO/30/2020 and APO/86/2023 both of which were disposed of by judgment and order dated August 29, 2024. In an independent public interest litigation which was specially assigned to us, by our judgment and order dated January 9, 2025 passed in WPA/12676/2019 [INTACH (India National Trust for Art And Cultural Heritage) & Anr. Vs. State of West Bengal & Ors.)] we directed the Kolkata Municipal Corporation authorities to consider the application for listing or delisting a heritage building in accordance with law and to publish the list in the website of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. In this writ petition, the prayer is for delisting of the immovable property from the list of heritage building. In view of INTACH (India National Trust for Art And Cultural Heritage) (supra), it would be appropriate to permit the writ petitioner to approach the concerned authorities with 3 the same prayer as those made in the present writ petition. The authorities will consider and decide the said application for delisting, if made by the writ petitioner, in accordance with law. Needless to say that the authorities will afford a reasonable opportunity of hearing to the writ petitioner. It will also publish the reasoned order on such application in the website as also serve a copy thereof upon the parties, if applied for, forthwith thereafter. We clarify that we did not enter into the merits of the writ petition and the rival contentions of the parties in relation to the prayer for delisting. All points raised by the parties are kept open. WPO/74/2020 is disposed of without any order as to costs. (DEBANGSU BASAK, J.) (MD. SHABBAR RASHIDI, J.) sd/ 4