SC refuses to halt sealing; hearing on Monday

New Delhi, Nov 02 : The Supreme Court will be hearing to applications filed by the centre and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Monday. The MCD is seeking SC permission in halting the sealing of shops, against traders.

However, the Supreme Court has refused to stay sealings till the time the matter comes up for hearing, as pleaded by MCD.

"We do not know what is your administrative discretion," the Bench, headed by Justice K G Balakrishnan, remarked. The SC Monitoring Committee will now decide whether the sealing drive will be stopped till Monday.

The Monitoring Committee will meet later today to take a decision on the issue. On Wednesday night, the committee had announced that there will be no sealings on Thursday. The decision came after the Delhi administration candidly confessed its inability to maintain law and order if sealings were to resume.

Traders have ended their 72-hour strike this morning. The protestors had blocked roads in Mayur Vihar, Noida Mod in East Delhi and parts of the Ring Road on yesterday.

The MCD has also filed a similar application seeking suspension of the sealing drive against traders who have given an undertaking to prevent misuse of the premises in residential areas.

Sources