NEW DELHI: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that it will not demolish without prior notice any unauthorised construction in the houses belonging to individuals involved in the Uttam Nagar clash on Holi.
The civic body made the statement before Justice Amit Bansal during the hearing of petitions filed by Jarina, mother of Imran, one of the accused; and Shahnaz, whose children were interrogated by police.
The petitioners had approached the high court seeking protection of their residential properties from the alleged arbitrary demolition by civic authorities. This comes in the wake of the death of a 26-year-old man and a murder case registration.
The petitioners claimed that a “purely personal” dispute had been maliciously given a communal colour, and certain religious groups and anti-social elements were threatening them. The MCD had, on March 8, demolished certain “illegal portions” of a house linked to one of the persons accused in the murder. The MCD said it was built on a drain.
Senior advocate Sanjay Poddar said the MCD shall not take action against unauthorised constructions without issuing notice to the petitioners. He also submitted that any action shall be in accordance with the Supreme Court judgement on demolitions. The court noted the submissions made by the MCD’s counsel and closed the proceedings on the petitions.
The judge passed the directions after observing that the petitions contained vague averments and raised multiple causes of action, including issues relating to the police investigation in the murder case, which could not be examined in the present proceedings.
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