NEW DELHI: Warning that the entire Capital might be plunged into deep unrest if the Municipal Corporation of Delhi resumes the sealing drive from November 1, a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party councillors on Sunday urged Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy to urgently convene a special session of Parliament so that a new law could be enacted to provide relief to traders.

Led by Leader of the Opposition in the civic body Subhash Arya, BJP councillors said so far the court has shown no inclination to provide any relief to traders and shop-owners. On the contrary, their problems have been aggravated as they were now being told to submit affidavits. Under such circumstances relief could be provided only by making amendments in the Constitution, they asserted.

"When the Supreme Court had recently objected to the notifications passed by the Centre, Mr. Reddy had promised to convene a special session of Parliament to make amendments in the Constitution so that relief could be provided to traders. We told Mr. Reddy that the time has come to enact a new law and place it under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution so that it is exempted from the purview of judicial scrutiny," said Mr. Arya.

It was the only way to find a permanent solution to the issue and the opposition BJP would support the Government in it, Mr. Arya said, adding if the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government failed to act earnestly, Seelampur-like incident -- in which four innocent people had died in police firing during "Delhi Bandh" last month -- would be repeated and this time the repercussions would be more serious.

Stating that the Centre should realise that it would be like playing with fire if it failed to act before the October 31 deadline as traders were adamant on a do-or-die battle to save their livelihoods, Mr. Arya claimed Mr. Reddy did not give any commitment on convening the Parliament session to enact a legislation. "The Minister told us that he has approached the Supreme Court to exempt traders from filing affidavits. He is still hoping that their notifications would not be nullified by the apex court," Mr. Arya added.

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