The Hindu : Front Page : Illegal constructions must stop, says High Court

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Saturday, Jul 22, 2006

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Illegal constructions must stop, says High Court

Staff Reporter

Municipal Corporation of Delhi can not de-seal unauthorised constructions under the garb of the new Act.

NEW DELHI: Observing that "unauthorised constructions are going on in the Capital in full swing after the passage of the so-called Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006'', the Delhi High Court on Friday said the Municipal Corporation of Delhi could not de-seal unauthorised constructions under the garb of the new Act. "Forget about this law,'' a Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma observed when a lawyer petitioner informed it that the civic body was not taking action on unauthorised constructions that had started after January 1 this year and were still continuing in the name of the new law.

By this Act, the Centre has put a one-year moratorium on demolition and sealing of unauthorised constructions done before January 1, 2006.

"How can they (MCD) de-seal unauthorised structures and allow their construction because they have given an undertaking to the Court to demolish these constructions?" the Bench observed. Commenting on the effect of the new law, the Bench said: "Unauthorised constructions are going on in full swing after the passage of the law. It is a jamboree and a period of festivity for unauthorised constructions."

The Bench made these observations during the hearing of a petition by the lawyer whose building the civic body had demolished at Lajpat Nagar in South Delhi on the ground of it being unauthorised. The lawyer alleged that a J-E of MCD had raised a six-storey building in the colony without a sanctioned building plan but the MCD was not taking any action against him in the name of the new law.

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