New Delhi, July 9 : Delhi's Land and Development Office (L (and) DO) on Monday told the Supreme Court it was not obstructing the sealing drive in the capital, as the court's monitoring committee on sealing of unauthorised structures had claimed.
In a recently filed report, the committee told the apex court that the L (and) DO had stalled the sealing drive in Amar Colony area of south Delhi under political influence.
Additional Solicitor General A.N.S.
Nadkarni, appearing for the L (and) DO, told the bench of Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Deepak Gupta that the department would file a reply on the committee's report and that no obstruction has been caused from their side.
The court then asked L (and) DO to file its response within seven days, and scheduled the matter for further hearing.
The committee, citing L (and) DO's unwillingness on carrying out the sealing drive in Amar Colony which was scheduled June 25 onwards, claimed that the department had already finished the survey of properties in the area in association with the municipality concerned.
The department had filed this information in an affidavit in the top court.
This affidavit identified the areas surveyed -- Andha Mugla, Motia Khan, Sarai Rohilla and Amar Colony -- and 2,354 as total number of properties/tenements in these areas.
The committee in the report said that violations in the nature of encroachment have already been documented.
According to the court's direction, meetings were conducted by the monitoring committee with the officials concerned of the L (and) DO, Deputy Commissioner, Central Zone, South Delhi Municipal Corporation) and Deputy Commissioner of Police, to map out the sealing operations.
The committee said on June 25, the L (and) DO and Deputy Commissioner, Central Zone stated that the sealing operation is being deferred due to protection under the National Capital of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2011.
"From the sequence of the events as mentioned above, the act and conduct of the officials was to stall the sealing process at the last moment to appease the political leaders," it said in its report.
The report also claimed that the officials were aware that the protection as claimed is not available to the impugned properties under the 2011 law.
--IANS
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Source: IANS
