NEW DELHI: Expressing dissatisfaction over the rampant encroachment in Tughlaqabad Fort in the national capital, the Delhi High Court on Monday said it cannot be a ‘silent spectator’ and directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to remove those encroachments within four weeks.
Seeking action on the petitions on the issue, a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad warned that the court will order the personal appearance of top officials including the ASI director, MCD commissioners, the sub-divisional magistrate and senior police officers if they have not followed its directives.
The high court also pointed out that, in 2016 the Supreme Court had passed an order for the removal of encroachments in the area and the ASI has already pasted 1248 notices on various structures within the fort. “This court cannot be a silent spectator (when the order has been passed by the top court). The ASI is directed to take action for the removal of the encroachment, and SDM concerned and MCD will provide all logistical support for the removal of the encroachment...List after four weeks,” the bench said.
The ASI expressed before the court its helplessness in removing the illegal structures on account of non-cooperation by other authorities. Besides the MCD and the SDM, the court also asked the Delhi Police to provide the necessary support to the ASI in removing the encroachments.
In case of non-compliance, the court will direct the appearance of the commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, ASI director, police commissioner and SDM, it added. On November 24 last year, the high court granted six weeks as the “last indulgence” to the ASI to remove encroachments in and around the Tughlaqabad Fort.
While the counsel for ASI had expressed its inability to remove the encroachments due to the non-cooperation of other departments, the lawyers for MCD, DDA and other authorities assured they will provide full assistance to the ASI. The bench had then asked BSES, the power distribution company, to cooperate as the electricity connection at the site needed to be snapped before removing the encroachments and called for status reports from the authorities.
In 2017, the high court formed a committee, saying it was of the view that the survey of the structure to determine which of them existed in 1993, as indicated by the judgment of the Supreme Court, would be better subserved if a committee oversaw the task.
It had said the committee, comprising the vice-chairperson of the DDA (or his nominee, preferably the member commissioner of land management), the SDMC commissioner (represented by the deputy commissioner of the zone concerned), a senior official of the ASI to be nominated by its director general, the joint commissioner of Delhi Police and the revenue secretary as well as an independent observer of INTACH, be formed.
SC had passed instructions in 2016
The HC also pointed out that in 2016, the SC had passed an order for the removal of encroachments in the area and the ASI has already pasted 1248 notices on various structures within the fort. “This court cannot be a silent spectator (when the order has been passed by the top court). The ASI is directed to take action for the removal of the encroachment, and SDM concerned and MCD will provide all logistical support for the removal of the encroachment...List after four weeks,” the bench said.