In a sharp criticism of unauthorised constructions mushrooming in the Capital, the Supreme Court on Friday said “invaders have pillaged Delhi for hundreds of years, but for the last couple of decades it is being ravaged by its own citizens and officials governing the Capital city”.
A Bench led by Justice Madan B. Lokur observed that the consequences of the failure to implement the rule of law in Delhi were having a generational impact, which can turn disastrous.
The court also referred to the misuse of residential premises for commercial and industrial purposes.
The court said that the time has come to bring “some sanity to urban living”. The apex court ordered that cases transfered by it to the Delhi High Court, pertaining to sealing drive be send back to it as no hearing has taken place on them in the high court for the past four years.
The directions came while disposing an application filed by a private company to release one of its properties which was sealed by the monitoring committee in 2007 as it was used for commercial purposes.
The Bench, however, made it clear that those residential premises which were sealed by the monitoring committee over misuse for any commercial purposes (other than industrial) can directly approach the committee for relief after depositing an amount of ₹1 lakh with it.
The SC asked the monitoring panel to set up a website and place all these reports, duly indexed, on the website.
