The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the Centre’s plea to modify its order requiring the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to take public opinion before amending the Master Plan of Delhi-2021.
A Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Navin Sinha had on May 15 welcomed the DDA’s plans to launch an interactive public website and smartphone application for citizens to voice their complaints against illegal constructions.
The court had given the authority a fortnight to make the online system operational.
Justice Sinha, who is sitting on the Vacation Bench with Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, pronounced the order on behalf of himself and Justice Lokur.
The DDA had also proposed to fix responsibility on officials in cases of illegal construction activities in the Capital and violation of the master plan and building by-laws.
DDA assurance
The DDA had assured to check ongoing and future unauthorised constructions in the city under the supervision of a special task force (STF) constituted on April 25 following an apex court order.
The apex court had on March 6 stayed any further progress in amending the Master Plan of Delhi-2021 to protect unauthorised construction from the ongoing sealing drive in the Capital, sternly observing that this ‘dadagiri’ (bullying tactics) must stop.
Strong exception
The court had taken strong exception to the non-filing of affidavits by the Delhi government, the DDA and the municipal corporations on whether an environment-impact assessment was conducted before proposing amendments to the city’s master plan.
The Master Plan-2021 is a blueprint for urban planning and expansion in the metropolis to ensure overall development and the proposed amendments are aimed at bringing a uniform floor area ratio for shop-cum-residential plots and complexes on par with residential plots.
