Road encroachment, action under Section 431 IPC and Section 133 CRPC

[thrishul]

my neighbor has encroached 30% width of public road by constructing a hotel with roof.The hotel is running .
Can i give police complaint.If so is IPC 431 applicable.Place Village in Andhra Pradesh.Can i ask the police to file a petition with District Magistrate under sec 133 crpc to remove encroachment.
Can i complain against government official who failed to stop encroachment.
If yes relevant sections.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

Section 431 of IPC is as under:

“431. Mischief by injury to public road, bridge, river or channel.—Whoever commits mischief by doing any act which renders or which he knows to be likely to render any public road, bridge, navigable river or navigable channel, natural or artificial, impassable or less safe for travelling or conveying property, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both.”

If 30% of the road is encroached and converted into a hotel, Section 431 IPC may be attracted in such situation.

Section 133 of the Cr.P.C. may also be applicable in this situation, and you can request police to send report to the Executive Magistrate for removing nuisance from the public road. In fact, even you can directly file a complaint to the Executive Magistrate under Section 133 of Cr.P.C., since it talks about "on receiving the report of a police officer or other information".

Yes, if the encroachment has occurred due to negligence of some public official(s), you can file complaint against him to his superior authorities.

     

---

Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Author]

Posts