No stopping sealing, demolition of illegal constructions in Delhi, says SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said there would be "no stopping of sealing or demolition" of unauthorised constructions in Delhi.

The apex court's direction came after the Centre told a bench comprising Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta that it had not given any instructions to authorities in Delhi to stop their sealing drive against illegal constructions.

The bench also directed that construction activity is stopped with immediate effect wherever any unauthorised construction is noticed or booked by authorities.

The apex court said adequate police protection should be given to officials when they are carrying out a sealing drive against unauthorised constructions.

Besides, the bench asked the Centre to contemplate blacklisting of builders, contractors and architects found responsible for unauthorised constructions.

Attorney General K K Venugopal told the bench that the Delhi Development Authority had launched a mobile application on July 9 where citizens can complain about illegal constructions and encroachments in the city.

So far, 431 complaints have been received in the mobile application and action taken on 138 such complaints, he said.

The bench directed that adequate publicity be given to the mobile application so citizens of Delhi are aware of it.

The top court is dealing with the issue of validity of the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006 and subsequent legislations which protect unauthorised constructions from being sealed.