HC restrains MCD from forefeiting amount paid by dairy applicants

New Delhi, Feb 23 (UNI) Delhi High Court has restrained the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) from forfeiting the amounts paid by applicants for a plot in the Ghogha Dairy Scheme in Narela last year.

Justice Sanjeev Khanna yesterday directed the MCD and other applicants to present all the records pertaining to the allotment of the plots in the scheme for rehabilitation of the dairies at Ghogha before the court on March 10.

To tackle the situation of stray cattle on roads, the court had earlier ordered the state government to remove all illegal dairies and place them outside the city.

The MCD had allotted the place near Narela in north Delhi for the purpose and called for applications from dairy owners to set up their dairies in a technically and scientifically equipped environment.

The state government had allotted about 180 acres of land to the MCD and a colony on the scheme of self-financing was to be developed. Plots were allotted on first-cum-first-serve basis and each was asked to pay 50 per cent amount in advance. However, not many dairy owners had applied for the plots.

Later, it was alleged that many dairy owners of Delhi did not want the Ghogha Dairy Project to come up, therefore, a lot of hue and cry was created to halt the process.

The court had also directed an inquiry into the wrong allotments of the plots.

The petitioners -- Rajesh Makkar, Rakesh Virmani and Nand Kishore Singhal -- moved the Delhi High Court saying that despite having eligibility, the MCD had not only cancelled their plots but also forfeited their amounts.

Counsels for the petitioners told the court that the MCD should not forfeit their amounts as all their documents relating to the dairies had been submitted to the MCD and verification had confirmed their eligibility.

They said the MCD was misinterpreting the High Court's order and had cancelled all the allotments desspite their eligibility.

UNI SNG SW RAI1232