Rampant illlegal construction in Sainik Farms irks Delhi High Court

The Delhi high court on Wednesday said “rampant” unauthorised construction was going on in the posh Sainik Farms and neither the municipal body nor the Delhi police has anything to show apart from a few prosecutions and some demolition action, and that too in a “pick and choose manner”.

The court observed that despite earlier direction that no trucks carrying construction materials would enter the area, many buildings have been constructed and even South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has admitted in its affidavit that around 700 buildings came up there after 2007.

Expressing concern on the issue, a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva asked the standing counsel for the CBI to appear before it on the next date of hearing on May 15 to discuss if the matter could be probed by the agency.

“We find that despite clear directions given by division bench of this court in several matters concerning Sainik Farm, rampant unauthorised construction is going on unabated. The division bench had clearly directed that no trucks carrying construction materials will enter Sainik Farm area and for this, commissioner MCD and DCP south were to deploy officials.

“These personnel were deployed yet building construction activities continued in the area without any legal sanction,” the bench said.

During the hearing, the counsel appearing for petitioner claimed that thousands of houses have been built in the area despite the court’s orders.

On being asked about the number of such trucks carrying required building materials in the area, the counsel claimed that 200 trucks were required, besides furnishing materials, to construct one such house.

The court observed if 700 buildings have been constructed in the area, about 1.40 lakh trucks must have entered there.

“Yet, the officials of MCD and the Delhi police has nothing to show apart from a few prosecution and some demolition action on a pick and choose manner. Before we take further steps in this aspect, we call the standing counsel for the CBI to take their input on the next date of hearing,” the bench said.

It also directed the SDMC and the police to file a list of officials who were deployed in Sainik Farm area after court’s directions given in January 2001.

Meanwhile, Central government’s standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia informed the bench that proposal by the Delhi government for regularisation of unauthorised colonies was considered by the Union urban development minister and a draft has been circulated among the stakeholders.