How can Sainik Farms RWAs collect toll, asks Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday came down heavily on Sainik Farms resident welfare associations (RWAs) and questioned how they were collecting toll from commercial vehicles entering or passing through the area.

A division bench of Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva questioned how the RWA was collecting the toll, despite Sainik Farms being an unauthorised colony.

"How can you charge vehicles entering the area? On what basis are you doing so? How can you have a toll road? It's an unauthorised colony and you are charging toll from people? You are acting like a state. What is this nonsense? It's like a can of worms," the bench said.

The court's observation came after the six RWAs in the area said Rs.20-Rs.800 was being charged from commercial vehicles, including heavy trucks and even auto-rickshaws.

They further said the roads in the areas were built by them and thus they charge the amount for road maintenance.

Hearing a public interest litigation filed by a non-governmental organisation on illegal constructions in Sainik Farms, the court directed the six RWAs to give details of amount collected by them from 2007 till date on entry fee.

The court also deferred its decision on a preliminary enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation on unauthorised constructions in Sainik Farms till July 20, the next date of hearing.

The bench said: "We are deferring directions to the CBI till the next date of hearing. If the (central and Delhi) governments do not act, we will act. We hope that by that date, both the governments will have taken concrete measures."

There is a blanket ban on construction in Sainik Farms area since 2001, pursuant to a high court direction.

Even entry of construction materials in the area is banned, which ought to be checked by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and south Delhi Police.

The bench also directed the SDMC and the Delhi Police to submit a list of officers who were deputed in Sainik Farms after January 2001.

--IANS

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