Court stops demolition of Real Estate Properties, rules against Capital Municipality’s authority

TDT | Manama                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

The Court of Urgent Matters intervened yesterday to halt the demolition of three real estate properties, which had been ordered by the Capital Municipality on the grounds that they were dilapidated and on the verge of collapse.

The Court ruled that the demolition decision violated judicial authority, for which the Capital Municipality has no legal power.

The Court also stated that the Capital Municipality has no right to overrule a court decision through administrative means, and ordered the Director General of the Municipality to refrain from executing the demolition order until further notice.

On Wednesday, the Court of Urgent Matters ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case, following which, on the same day the Capital Municipality issued Administrative Decision No. 1 of 2023 to proceed with the demolition of the properties in question.

This prompted the plaintiff to approach the Court again and requested a stop memo, arguing that the Municipality’s decision was inconsistent with the ruling of the judiciary and violated the rights of the defendant.

Hearing the case, the Court stated that the matter was previously set aside for a thorough investigation into the jurisdiction of the court, considering its seriousness.

The Court declared that this made the demolition of the properties a matter of jurisdiction and, on which the Amanat Al Asimah has no authority to issue an administrative decision.

The Court said it is suspending the Administrative Decision No. 1 of 2023, which had been issued by the Director General of the Capital Municipality on Wednesday for the demolition of the three properties.