The Hindu : New Delhi News : Court pulls up Union Urban Development Ministry

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 17, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

New Delhi

New Delhi

Court pulls up Union Urban Development Ministry

Staff Reporter

For not removing illegal alterations in Lutyens’ bungalows

‘As many as 71 of the occupants were found to have violated the revised guidelines’
The Court had last year also criticised the Ministry for going soft on the violators

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Union Urban Development Ministry for its plea to not remove illegal alterations and additions carried out by occupants, including Ministers and Members of Parliament, in their bungalows in Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone here.

The Ministry in an affidavit informed a Division Bench comprising Justice M. K. Sharma and Justice Reva Khetrapal that it was constrained not to remove the illegal constructions in as many as 42 of the 51 bungalows where they were carried out as “it would cause inconvenience to the occupants”.

The Bench took strong exception to the plea and said it could not be a ground for not removing the illegal constructions.

The affidavit said as many as 71 of the occupants were found to have violated the revised guidelines issued in September last year governing the structure of these bungalows.

It further said that 19 of the occupants had removed the illegal alterations and additions on their own, while the rest refused to comply with the notices served on them by the Ministry directing them to remove them.

“Each of the violators will take the same plea as he or she will be deprived of the additional space. Apply the law indiscriminately,” the Bench observed.

The Court had last year also criticised the Ministry for going soft on the violators saying that when it came to taking action against violators belonging to the weaker sections of society, the enforcement agencies took no time, but kept delaying action against the powerful and the rich. It had directed them to waste no time in taking action against the violators and file an action taken report by January 16, 2008.

The Court has been hearing the matter suo motu on the basis of media reports about the alterations and constructions carried in these bungalows without prior permission from the CPWD and in violations of the guidelines governing the maintenance of these bungalows.

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

New Delhi