HC direction for demolition of illegal colonies on public land

New Delhi, Feb 14 (UNI) Rejecting the plea of the residents of two illegal colonies, the Delhi High Court today directed the authorities to carry out the demolitions drives to retieve public land.

A division bench of Chief Justice M K Sarma and Justice Rekha Sharma asked the Delhi Development Authority(DDA) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi(MCD) and Delhi Government to demolish the illegal structures at Paul Colony and Buddha Vihar in West Delhi as the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006, enacted by Parliament did not give any relief to those who had settled on public land.

The demolition squad could not demolish the structures, due to public outrage on February five and six, said Counsel Rajiv Bansal appearing for DDA, the land owning agency.

The land had been acquired by the state government since 1985 and thousands of people had settled on the land illegally, said the MCD Counsel.

In a petition the residents of Paul Colony submitted that the Centre was contemplating to regularise the colonies and the court should impose a stay on the demolition drives.

The Delhi Police in a report submitted that the MCD, DDA and Delhi Government officials did not arrive at the spot despite mobilising a police force. The demolition drive had to be abandoned due to public outrage and lack of coordination by the high officials on February 6, the report said.

The Court asked the Vice Chairman DDA, Commissioner MCD and Deputy Commissioner of the area to file a report on the absence of high level officials and cancellation of demolition drive on scheduled dates.

UNI