New Delhi: HC imposes Rs 50,000 fine on MCD

New Delhi, Aug 4: The Delhi High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Municipal Corporation Of Delhi (MCD) for not complying with the Court order on the issue of making a parking policy in the Okhla Industrial Estate Phase-3.

Chief Justice M K Sharma and Justice Sanjiv Khanna directed the MCD to deposit the cost of Rs 50,000 within four weeks in the court for not complying with the Court orders.

The Court on September 26, 2006 directed the MCD to hold a meeting where the Counsels for MCD and the Association for Okhla Industrial Estate Phase-3 sit together and make a detailed plan of the area as to how the parking layout should be made.

The court said the plan should consider all aspects as to how much space was required for the owners, for their parking, for their workers' parking, parking for bicycles or scooters and also discuss the provisions of loading and unloading of the tempos in the vicinity.

MCD held several meetings with the representatives of the Association, the parking contractor and others to facilitate the layout plan of the area.

MCD called for the tenders and eventually handed over the contract for the parking of the entire area to a contractor at a sum of Rs 4 lakh per month and took Rs 12 lakh from him as advance for three months.

The contractor started charging hefty amounts from the factory owners which the Association members resisted. Later on MCD stated that the land in question does not belong to them as the Directorate of Industries(DOI) were the rightful owners of the said land.

The DOI said that they were the owners of the Estate and all the plots have been sold out for the purpose of Industries. The maintainance of the parking space had to be done by the MCD, said the Estate officer.

The High Court directed the MCD to pay the damages for misguiding the court and not complying with the court orders.

UNI