NEW DELHI: The Delhi HC on Wednesday recorded the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) submission that it would not carry out demolition of the houses of persons accused in the Uttam Nagar Holi murder case.
Justice Amit Bansal passed the directions after observing that the petitions filed by the family members of persons accused in the case for protection of their residential properties from arbitrary demolition contained vague averments and raised multiple causes of action that could not be examined in the present proceedings.
“It is pointed out that averments in the petition are vague and a separate cause of action is made. The petitioners seek liberty to withdraw the petition and file a better one within a week,” the judge said.
He clarified that the scope of the case before it was limited to examining whether demolition action by the MCD was being undertaken in accordance with the due process of law and the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court. Accordingly, the petitioners were granted liberty to withdraw the existing petitions and file fresh ones with better particulars within a week, restricting their challenge to the issue of demolition, the judge said.
While the bench did not pass any order granting protection to the petitioner, it noted the submissions by the counsel representing the MCD, who assured the court that no action would be taken on the properties till the time the fresh petition is decided.
The petitioners claimed that a “purely personal” dispute had been maliciously given a communal colour and that they had received threats from some religious groups & anti-social elements. The MCD had on March 8 demolished certain “illegal portions” of a house linked to one of the accused in case, saying that it was built on a drain. Officials of the civic body defended the move by arguing that the corporation was not obligated to give prior notice in an anti-encroachment drive.
Several people, including a minor, have been apprehended in connection with the death of a 26-year-old man in a clash between two neighbouring families with long-standing disputes during Holi celebrations in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar.