BJP Councillors meet Reddy, call for spl Parl session

New Delhi, Oct 15 (UNI) The Opposition BJP in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi today reiterated their demand to the Centre for urgently calling a special session of Parliament on the sealing issue to provide relief to the thousands of traders who faced the threat of sealing from November 1.

BJP Councillors, led by Leader of the Opposition in the MCD house Subhash Arya, today met Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy at his residence, in wake of the Court's direction to the nearly four lakh traders to file affidavits as well as the MCD decision to resume sealing from November 1, and urged him to call a special session of Parliament, if necessary, to provide relief to traders from sealing.

''We urged Mr Reddy that he should fulfil his promise, made after the violent incidents during the September 20 Delhi Bandh, that of necessary the Centre would call a special session of Parliament to provide suitable relief from sealing,''Mr Arya told UNI here.

According to Mr Arya, the BJP Councillors, during their meeting with Mr Reddy this afternoon, demanded that the Centre make suitable amendments in the law to provide relief to the traders from sealing.

The MCD last week said it would begin sealing of shops of traders whose units did not fall under the purview of the September 15 notification by the Delhi government declaring 2183 roads in the capital as commercial/mixed use roads from November 1 Also coming under the MCD action would be the 40000 traders who had submitted affidavits in the Apex court that they would close down their units by June 30 as well as those whose shops fall under the negative list of items under the September 7 notification by the Urban Development Ministry.

Mr Arya said that the BJP Councillors tried to impress upon Mr Reddy that the only way to provide relief to the traders was to put all the amendments made in mixed use regulations in the Schedule nine of the Constitution which would make them immune from the possibility of being struck down by the courts.

The Supreme Court had, in August, struck down certain provisions of the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006, promulgated by the central government in May to put a one year moratorium on sealing and demolitions in Delhi for a period of one year.

Mr Arya said the Urban Development Minister, while assuring that the Government was concerned about the plight of the traders, said he would first wait for the Supreme Court's response to an application put up by the Centre asking for more time for traders coming under the 2183 commercial/mixed use roads notified by the Delhi Government to file an affidavit in the court.

Mr Arya, however, however, said rather than waiting for the Court's response, the Government should call a special parliament session on the issue.

''By the time the court gives its response, it could be quite late as by that time, thousands of traders would have been divested of their livelihood. So, the Government should call a special session of Parliament on the issue,''Mr Arya said.

Besides Mr Arya, the BJP delegation comprised Standing committee member Vijender Gupta and 13 other BJP councillors including Ms Arti Gupta, Mr Onkar Singh Thapar and Ms Meera Kanwaria.

UNI AR VD HT2035