PSU and Company guest houses not to be sealed: SC

New Delhi, Dec 12 (UNI) In a major relief to the PSUs and private companies, the Supreme Court today directed that guest houses owned and run by the Public Sector Undertakings(PSUs) and private companies meant for their staff do not come within the purview of commercial activities and are hence not liable to be sealed.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justices C K Thakker and R V Raveendran, however ordered desealing of the Vansthali school in Madhuban in East Delhi till April 30 next year in view of the interests of the students.

The court, however, made it clear that there seemed to be collusion between DDA and the school management and directed the DDA to file its response as to how the senior secondary school was allowed to come up on public land and no action was ever taken to remove the encroachment, Earlier counsel for the school gave an undertaking to the court that the management would close down the school after the current academic session is over.

The school was earlier sealed by the MCD under the instructions of Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee in view of the apex court orders that no order passed by any other court would come in the way of the sealing process of commercial establishments operating illegally from the residential areas in Delhi in violation of the Master Plan.

The relief for the private guest houses owned by the PSUs for the use of their staff came on an application filed by the State Bank of India which contended that the guest houses are meant for the bank staff and the entire maintenance expenditure is born by the bank and hence there was no commercial activitiy involved as there is no profit motive involved.

UNI AKS/SC RP ND1742