Supreme Court panel gives no assurance on sealing relief

New Delhi: In a rare show of unity, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), along with the BJP and the Congress, on Wednesday met members of the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee and sought an immediate relief for traders in Delhi from the sealing drive, but the panel did not give any assurance in this regard.

The sealing drive by the BJP-run municipal corporations in Delhi was initiated in December last year on the direction of the apex court-appointed monitoring panel. Commercial premises, including shops and restaurants, were sealed for failing to deposit “conversion charges” according to provisions in Delhi Master Plan 2021.

The all-party meeting with the monitoring committee members held at Delhi Secretariat on Wednesday was attended by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and other leaders. 

Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken who had attended the last all-party meet on March 13 at Mr Kejriwal’s residence abstained from the meet. The committee members, Bhure Lal and K.J. Rao, heard the suggestions and complaints of the leaders during the meeting.

After the meeting, Mr Tiwari said, “We all wanted an end to the chaos caused by the sealing drive and sought its suspension. But the monitoring committee members did not say anything about it.”

The parties wanted suspension of the sealing drive as the Supreme Court is going to hear on day-to-day basis, from April 2, a case on amendment of Master Plan of Delhi by the DDA that was earlier stayed by the court, Mr Tiwari said.

The parties also agreed to hire top lawyers for representing the stand of the Centre, the Delhi government and the municipal corporations before the Supreme Court.

This was the second all-party meeting called by the Delhi government over sealing issue.