The Hindu : New Delhi News : Apex Court to hear Centre's plea today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 28, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Apex Court to hear Centre's plea today

Staff Reporter

Halt sealing drive, give time to set house in order

NEW DELHI: With the Supreme Court scheduled to take up on Friday the Union Urban Development Ministry's plea seeking a halt to the ongoing sealing of commercial properties in the Capital's residential areas and a six-month extension to set its house in order, the guessing game is on in political and administrative circles here whether the required relief will come through or not as the future of thousands of families and individuals is at stake.

Both the Government and traders are drawing up alternate plans to deal with the situation as it emerges after the hearing. Both the Centre and the Delhi Government are under increased pressure to act. Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy has already indicated that the issue of bringing in fresh legislation is not ruled out, but the Government would wait for the apex court to take a decision. With the Congress camp already in panic over the negative impact of the demolition and sealing exercise going on simultaneously in the Capital, efforts are on to ensure that things do not go out of control and the party is left with a face-saving device.

As a step in this direction, the All-India Congress Committee-constituted Coordination Committee for Delhi chaired by party general secretary Ashok Gehlot met at short notice on Thursday and took stock of the situation. Significantly, Mr. Reddy, who is not part of the Coordination Committee, also attended the meeting held at the 24 Akbar Road headquarters of the Congress party. His Minister of State Ajay Maken could not attend the meeting as he was out of Delhi on an official tour. Others who attended the meeting included Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Ram Babu Sharma, Finance Minister A. K. Walia, Food and Supplies Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, and Minto Road MLA Tajdar Babbar. The meeting discussed the issue of providing relief to the people of Delhi from the ongoing sealing and demolition exercise. It was felt that a lot of issues were involved and it would be better to come out with a comprehensive solution to the problem rather than adopt any ad hoc approach.

It is learnt that Mr. Reddy apprised the meeting of the steps taken by the Ministry on the issue of seeking relief from the Supreme Court, adding that the issue of bringing in legislation was already under consideration. It was also decided that the party and Government should speak in one voice on the issue and no group or individual should do anything to provoke or aggravate the situation.

Interestingly, political and administrative circles are already agog with rumours about what could be the possible outcome of Friday's hearing.

On the other hand, traders are also anxiously waiting for the apex court to pass directions on the Centre's application as this could possibly decide the fate of thousands of families and individuals who stand affected by the sealing order.

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