SC slams Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari for violating its order on sealing

The Supreme Court Tuesday took Delhi BJP chief and MP Manoj Tiwari to task for allegedly casting aspersions towards its committee which supervising the sealing of illegal structures in the national capital.

Being an MP does not give him the liberty to take the law in his hands, the top court told Tiwari, taking strong exception to his alleged violation of its directions on the issue.

Tiwari was present in the court in pursuance to the contempt notice issued to him for allegedly breaking the seal of a premises which was being run in violation of the Delhi Master Plan.

Expressing anguish at his statement, a bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur asked the BJP leader to explain his claims made to a news channel related to the Delhi sealing matter.

"Mr Tiwari, in your CD, you say there are one thousand places which deserve to be sealed. Give us a list of these places. We will make you the sealing officer," said the bench also comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta.

It also directed him to file an affidavit within a week explaining why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him.

Tiwari, who is an MP from northeast Delhi constituency, had said that the apex court-appointed monitoring committee was not sealing thousands of illegal structures.

An FIR was lodged against him by the East Delhi Municipal Corporation for allegedly breaking the seal of the premises in Gokalpuri area in north-east Delhi.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the BJP leader, said no seal was broken by Tiwari, who, being an MP, had never disrupted the sealing process.

Singh also alleged that the "monitoring committee was seeking publicity using your Lordships' forum and the property in question had nothing to do with sealing order."
In the report, the committee has urged the court to "pass stringent directions including initiation of contempt proceedings against Manoj Tiwari, MP, for seal tampering so that sealing operations may continue uninterrupted as per directions of this court."