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`Delhi law would stand scrutiny of Supreme Court'

Special Correspondent

We will tell the Court that it was an extraordinary situation in Delhi: Jaipal Reddy

Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday exuded confidence that the recently enacted law that paved the way for suspension of the Delhi Municipal Corporation's demolition drives in the Capital for a year will stand the scrutiny of the country's highest court.

"We are completely confident about the legal competence of Parliament to pass the law," Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy told reporters here after inaugurating a seminar organised by the Central Public Works Department on "Future Challenges" to mark the 150th CPWD Day celebrations.

In the wake of the hue and cry over MCD's demolition and property sealing drives following court orders, the UPA Government enacted the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006. The Constitutional validity of the law has been challenged before the Supreme Court and the Centre is scheduled to file its reply to the Supreme Court on Monday in response to the notice issued to it.

"We will tell the Court that there was an extraordinary situation in Delhi and we needed time to deal with it," Mr. Reddy said when asked about the Centre's line of defence in the Supreme Court.

He refused to comment when asked to spell out when exactly the Centre was planning to notify the much-delayed Master Plan-2021 for Delhi.

Earlier, inaugurating the seminar, he favoured greater autonomy for the Central Government's construction agency.

"It has to undergo a sea change from a proprietary, government construction agency to a competitive one where it has to compete not only with other government organisations but also with private sector," he said.

The Minister parried questions about the poor response of the civic authorities during the monsoon in major cities, such as Delhi and Mumbai. "These issues are State subject," he said.

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