PIL claims unauthorised construction: Delhi HC dismisses plea with Rs 25K costs

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has dismissed with costs of Rs 25,000 a PIL seeking direction to demolish alleged illegal and unauthorised construction being carried out in the Okhla Industrial area, saying the plea was filed without doing adequate home work.

The high court passed the order after the counsel for the authority concerned informed it about necessary permission having been granted to the owner of the properties involved to carry out the work.

“Keeping in view the fact that the present petition has been filed without adequate home work / investigation, this court dismisses the present public interest petition along with the application with costs of Rs 25,000 to be paid equally to the respondents, that is, MCD and DDA in four weeks,” a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora said in a recent order.

The high court was hearing a petition seeking direction to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) to demolish the alleged illegal and unauthorised construction being carried out by the owner of two properties in Okhla Industrial area.

The petitioner woman contended that the land belonged to DSIIDC. She said she made a representation to the authorities and requested them to take legal action against the owner. However, no action was taken.

The counsel for the MCD handed over to the court a letter issued by DSIIDC granting permission to the owner to carry out the construction work necessary to strengthen the structure. He also handed over a building plan and a certificate issued by the MCD with regard to one of the two properties.

The counsel for both the MCD and DDA alleged that the petition was filed to malign the authorities and extort money.