SC ruling on sealing issue tom; opponents flay Govt.

New Delhi, Sep 24: A day before hearing in the Supreme Court on the sealing issue, the opposition BJP and a trader's lobby continued protests today, demanding a stop to the court-ordered drive and resignation of the Congress leaders who failed to protect the interests of the shopkeepers.

''It is because of their acts of ommissions and commissions that the situation has come to such a pass,'' senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra said while demanding that Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and union ministers Jaipal Reddy and Ajay Maken should resign.

The BJP had been demanding a constitutional amendment to resolve the issue for the last many months, but the government failed to ensure this in the previous three sessions of parliament, he said.

Calling a special session of Parliament now was being mulled, but a lot of time would be spent in the procedural aspects and in making parties issue a whip in this regard, he said, while talking to reporters.

The party said all unauthorised colonies on public and private land should be regularised; that the Lal Dora population should be kept out of the purview of building bye-laws and that Old Delhi areas such as Chandni Chowk, Sadar Bazar, Kamla Nagar, Karol Bagh etc be declared commercial areas.

Moreover, mixed land use should be allowed in all areas of Delhi and shops on rent should also be permitted to run, he said.

Meanwhile, a ''Mahapanchayat'' organised by the Confederation of All India Traders made it clear that any attempt to treat any trader as illegal businessman would ''be opposed tooth and nail''.

The master plan of the city, they claimed, had lost its sanctity.

''Sealing in Delhi must be stopped immediately and those shops which have been forced to close should be allowed to reopen,'' a statement issued at the end of the Mahapanchayat stated.

In another development, the Delhi unit of the Shiv Sena said it would stage a dharna at the Jantar Mantar here tomorrow against the MCD's sealing drive.

The Shiv Sena would step up its agitation till a law was enacted to put an immediate end to the demolition and sealing drives, the party said in a statement.

UNI