9 hours Ago
New Delhi: Faced with multiple instances of blame game between MCD and DDA on civic issues, Delhi High Court has directed them to clearly demarcate their jurisdiction. A bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela was dealing with a case of illegal construction in Nizamuddin area where it ordered a CBI investigation in Feb this year. "Both DDA and MCD are directed to demarcate their boundaries and jurisdictions with precision (longitude and latitude) as far as possible.
The Hon'ble lieutenant governor is directed to consider extending the survey to the whole of Delhi so that the jurisdiction of all statutory authorities is clearly demarcated and the ground level reality is not a mystery and is known to all," the court noted, while disposing of the PIL where it passed orders. The court also took note of an agreement inked between DDA, MCD, and Survey of India (SoI) to utilise drone technology for land surveys , aimed at tackling encroachments. The SoP aims to address the persistent issue of ambiguity surrounding the ownership status of lands held by various govt entities as drones will help safeguard these lands from encroachment and prevent unauthorised construction.
High Court said the agencies must follow it even as it also bound CBI to its assurance that the agency would register/file an FIR/Chargesheet within four weeks in the matter. The court roped in CBI, observing that illegal construction is going on in Delhi on a "scale previously unheard of", often in the heart of the capital. It noted that the property in question (since razed) was a stone's throw away from the local police booth and transformed from a graveyard to a single-room godown and turned into a two-storey building and then a five-storey building.
The court was hearing a PIL by NGO Jamia Arabia Nizamia Welfare Education Society, which claimed that "illegal and unauthorised construction" was being carried out at Ziyrat guest house..
