New Delhi: A bulldozer being used to demolish illegal structures during a joint anti-encroachment drive by NDMC, PWD, local bodies and the police, in the violence-hit Jahangirpuri area, in New Delhi, Wednesday, April 20, 2022.
Highlights
- NDMC told SC that petitioners gave an 'unwarranted communal colour' to Jahangirpuri demolition.
- It said that no shops or houses were demolished on April 20 or in any of the previous drives.
- It stated that only projections on the public road, unauthorized temporary structures were removed.
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) on Monday informed the Supreme Court that an unwarranted communal colour was given to the Jahangirpuri demolition drive by the petitioners, reported Bar and Bench.
Additionally, NDMC highlighted that no house or shop was demolished at all either on April 20 or in any of the previous drives. "This is a blatant falsehood for which the deponent who has affirmed this on affidavit needs to be prosecuted so as to maintain the sanctity of averments being made on affidavit before this court," the affidavit reads.
NDMC clarified that sacks of garbage, unauthorized projection on public land, unauthorized temporary structures well beyond the boundary of the houses, and shops were removed during the drive. It was stated that for this, no notice was necessary under the provisions of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act.
It also stated that only projections on the public road, unauthorized temporary structures, and shops were removed.
Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Monday observed that there was “utter failure” on the part of the Delhi Police in stopping the unauthorized Hanuman Jayanti procession that led to communal clashes in the area on April 16.
The court said that the sequence of events that took place on Hanuman Jayanti on April 16 and the role of the local administration in preventing the incident and maintaining law and order needed to be seen.
(agency inputs)
