The Calcutta High Court on Thursday issued an interim stay on the demolition of alleged illegal constructions in Kolkata’s Topsia area under Tiljala Police Station, while withholding any immediate order on the rehabilitation of displaced residents.

The court observed that no construction can be demolished without following due legal procedure, after residents claimed they were evicted without prior notice before demolition teams arrived to raze their homes.

Hearing the matter, the bench of Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury observed that despite earlier court directions regarding illegal constructions in the city, there had been “inaction” under the previous government led by the Trinamool.

Justice Chowdhury said no business activities would be allowed to operate from the address where two people died in a fire on Tuesday, adding that no one would be permitted to reside there for now.

He also observed that residents would not receive rehabilitation at this stage and that even the demolished portions of the structures could not be repaired.

The court ordered all parties to maintain the status quo at the site until further orders.

The fire at the manufacturing unit had killed two labourers and injured three others.

Following the incident, the state government said the multi-storey building in Tiljala had been constructed illegally without an approved building plan and that an unauthorised factory was operating there.

The demolition drive began less than three hours after chief minister Suvendu Adhikari announced that CESC Limited had been asked to conduct an audit to identify illegal buildings housing factories and disconnect their electricity supply.

Authorities ordered the demolition of the five-storey building that housed the factory, along with an adjacent three-storey structure. Around eight to nine families lived in the two buildings.

The owners claimed they possessed all necessary documents except a no-objection certificate from the fire services department.

The next hearing is scheduled for May 22.