The Delhi Excessive Court docket on Thursday informed the Municipal Company of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Improvement Authority (DDA) to cease “passing the buck” to one another, whereas expressing concern over their “failure” to to take motion in opposition to “unauthorized development” close to Nizamuddin ki Baoli and Barakhamba Tomb, centrally protected monuments.
The HC was listening to a public curiosity litigation filed by NGO Jamia Arabia Nizamia Welfare Training Society, alleging that “unlawful and unauthorized development” was being carried out at ‘Khasra quantity 556 Ziyrat visitor home’ close to the baoli (stepwell).
A division bench of Performing Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora orally stated: “You (MCD and DDA) are imagined to perform as one. You’re two authorities working on the highest place on the similar time… It’s a very unhappy state of affairs to which you could have lowered the town… An excessive amount of unauthorized development is occurring… This jugalbandi that is occurring have to be stopped. What are you doing with this metropolis? It has grow to be a slum. This occurs within the New Delhi area. I can not think about what must be performed in different areas.”
The MCD lawyer argued that “regardless of the primary and second flooring of the property being sealed”, the previous proprietor had bought the property to a different individual (the present authority on the third, fourth and fifth flooring of the property), “though the land belongs to DDA”.
“This court docket finds it shocking that encroachment of public land, unlawful and unauthorized development has taken place on such an enormous scale within the coronary heart of Delhi, nearly below the noses of officers of the MCD, DDA, ASI and the police. This court docket is prima facie of the opinion that the matter must be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation,” the HC stated and directed the present proprietor to look earlier than it on the subsequent listening to.
“This ping-pong will cease as soon as we get the CBI. DDA and MCD officers will grow to be lively. You each move the accountability to one another. Between the 2, somebody needed to decide and one of many respondents allow us to down. We’ll discover out from the CBI who deserted us. You flip your again on this. This isn’t acceptable,” the bench stated verbally. The matter will likely be heard once more on February 7.