Opinion - Editorials   

Not by judicial fiat alone

The fierce protests during the day-long bandh by Delhi's traders — which resulted in the death of four people in police firing — signals an urgent need to formulate a broad-based, comprehensive, and humane strategy to deal with the issue of unauthorised constructions in the capital. The violence, a result of pent-up popular anger against the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's demolition and sealing drive, reflects the predicament of a people who have been caught up in a battle of sorts between the executive and the judiciary. Launched in March this year on the orders of the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court, the MCD's vigorous drive to demolish illegal structures and seal shops functioning in exclusively designated residential zones has highlighted the fact that the issue is much too complex and politically sensitive to be dealt with by judicial fiat alone. It is true that those responsible for urban planning have colluded with the rich and powerful to bend rules and flout land use norms all over the country. In the capital alone, over 18,000 buildings, listed for various irregularities, are under the judicial scanner. However, in its enthusiasm to go after "the big fish" — that is, the officials and the big builders who "have permitted or indulged in unauthorised constructions" — the judiciary seems to have ignored the social costs of undertaking such a massive demolition and sealing operation.

Unauthorised constructions are a wholesale affront to the rule of law but are hardly a new phenomenon in the country's urban landscape. They have been around for decades and, in many cases, the people who live in them, or work out of them, have been paying taxes for property, and water and sewerage connections. Demolition and sealing have a direct bearing on livelihood; in Delhi, the insensitive manner in which the operation has been conducted has rendered many poor and lower middle class people homeless and out of work. While the judiciary must be faulted for adopting a simplistic uni-dimensional approach to this issue, the Central Government's attitude has been open to serious misgivings. It fathered the controversial Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006, a piece of legislation that placed a one-year moratorium on demolition and sealing in the capital and was specifically designed to circumvent the judiciary's orders. When the Supreme Court described the Act as "wholly void and illegal," the Centre issued a notification that re-designated a number of areas in Delhi for mixed land or commercial use — another attempt to get around the Court. The correct way ahead is for the Central Government to chalk out a comprehensive plan that is at once rational, humane, and in keeping with the spirit of Delhi's Master Plan. It is not enough to respond to the mass rage by passing a new law to dodge the court. The constitution of a group of ministers to go into the issue is belated. It will be worthwhile only if it comes up with a blueprint that reflects a commitment to tackle the illegal constructions issue in a manner that is fair and firm but also compassionate and mindful of the social costs. The last thing the national capital needs is social strife aggravated by tensions between constitutional institutions.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Not by judicial fiat alone
Man in a hurry
An open letter to American Senators
Coalition dharma in Karnataka
Admission strengthens Budapest's hand
Towards efficiency in doing good
Threat is from those who accept climate change
Corrections and clarifications
Shocking
The Thai crisis
Haj subsidy
Inter-caste marriages
Clarification

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu