Misuse of residential premises: Sealing to be done if no licence produced within 48 hours, says SC
New Delhi, Nov 2:The Supreme Court said on Friday that residential premises in Delhi which are being misused for commercial purposes should be sealed within 48 hours if their owners do not furnish permission documents or licence for running the business.
A bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur, A M Khanwilkar and R Subhash Reddy observed that the Centre has adopted a "non-cooperative" approach in dealing with the issuance of advance notice to the owner of a property being misused before sealing it.
It took into account the suggestions given on Thursday by senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the Delhi sealing matter, that persons misusing residential premises for unauthorised activity be asked to produce the licence within 48 hours.
"However, in the event the persons are unable to produce any permission or licence, the premises will be sealed due to the unauthorised misuse," the court had noted in its Thursday order.
The amicus had also suggested that if the owner of the property being misused would give an undertaking, which would be video recorded, that the misuse would be stopped and he or should would file an affidavit before the concerned authority that the same would not be misused, then another 48 hours time could be given for this.
During the hearing on Friday, the bench also dealt with the issue of joint survey of houses conducted in south Delhi area by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and the Land and Development Office (L&DO) in August.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) A N S Nadkarni, appearing for the Centre, said that 2,354 houses were surveyed in the survey conducted in Amar colony, Motia Khan and two other areas.
He said that report of survey would be ready within two weeks after the Diwali holidays.
The ASG told the court that 400 houses in the areas where survey was conducted were sealed by the court-mandated monitoring committee and they should be de-sealed so that survey could be done.
"You give the report first. Give it to the amicus also. After you will give the report, we will see," the bench said.
The amicus told the court that monitoring committee has filed a report regarding the SDMC's policy for holding social functions in motels and also in farmhouses.
"The monitoring committee is saying that under which law, they (SDMC) has permitted this," the amicus said.
The bench then told the ASG, "These lands were taken from the farmers, genuine farmers. The DDA (Delhi Development Authority) had acquired these lands. Keep that in mind."
The bench asked the SDMC to respond to the monitoring committee's report within three weeks.
"Lot of these problems are due to the inefficiency of DDA and MCD (municipal corporation of Delhi) since 2006. These bodies blame each other. Monitoring committee is a soft target for them," the bench observed.
The apex court had Thursday came down heavily on DDA and other civic agencies for keeping "their eyes closed" on misuse of residential premises for commercial purpose since 2006 and had said this has led to a "mess" in the national capital.
The court had in July said that a show-cause notice should be issued to the owner of building where unauthorised construction or misuse was found and 48 hours time be given to him or her respond to it as to why action be not taken.
The committee had thereafter told the court that issuing advance notice creates more problem as people "hoodwink" with agencies which perpetuates corruption.
The top court is dealing with the issue of validity of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006 and subsequent legislations which protect unauthorised constructions from being sealed.
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Ahmedabad plane crash: Six months on, college hostel lies in ruins, sans bustle of students
Ahmedabad (PTI): Six months after the AI-171 plane crash, the B J Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad stands as a haunting reminder, with its charred walls and burnt trees replacing the once lively chatter of students with an eerie stillness.
Scattered across the crash site are grim remnants of daily life - burnt cars and motorcycles, twisted beds and furniture, charred books, clothes and personal belongings.
The Atulyam-4 hostel building and the adjoining canteen complex stand abandoned, with entry strictly prohibited.
For residents near the site, memories of the incident still linger, casting a lasting shadow on their lives, with some of them saying they are still afraid to look up at the sky when an aircraft passes overhead.
On June 12, Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 persons.
The aircraft slammed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Meghaninagar, turning a lively student neighbourhood into a landscape of ruin and grief.
"The area now lies very silent, only a few birds chirp here," Sanjaybhai, a security guard deployed at the premises by authorities to prevent trespassing, told PTI.
Mahendrasingh Jadeja, a general store owner whose shop is just 50 metres from the point where the aircraft struck, described it as an unimaginable calamity. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like this."
Pointing to a tree behind his shop, the 60-year-old said the aircraft first struck there before crashing into the hostel building.
"It was a scorching summer afternoon. Not many people were outside. When I heard a loud crashing sound, I ran out of my shop. We were all terrified," he recalled.
"Even today, we instinctively look up whenever a plane passes overhead," he added.
Another local, Manubhai Rajput, who lives barely 200 metres from the site, said he witnessed the horror unfold on June 12.
"The plane was flying unusually low. Before I could understand what was happening, there was thick black smoke and a deafening crash," he said.
For over three decades, Rajput and his neighbours lived close to the airport without giving much thought to the aircraft overhead.
"We never looked up at the sky. But that day is etched in my mind. The plane hit a tree first, and then there was a loud sound," he said.
Rajput recalled how hundreds of locals rushed to the site even before police, fire services or the Army arrived.
Tinaben, another resident of Meghaninagar, said she never imagined something like this could happen in Ahmedabad.
"Despite being close to the airport, this area always felt safe," she said.
As an aircraft roared overhead during the conversation, Tinaben paused, looked up nervously and said, "It's still scary."
A senior official of Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state government has yet to decide what to do with the damaged site.
Currently, investigations are going on and the site is strictly prohibited for people, he added.
