Make guidelines to blacklist defaulter builders: Supreme Court
New Delhi, July 18 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to come out with proper guidelines within two weeks to blacklist builders, contractors and architects found to have constructed buildings against sanctioned plans.
A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta said that from now on the owner(s) of illegal or encroached constructions would be given only 48-hour notice to show cause why the building not be sealed or demolished and action shall be taken immediately thereafter.
The court directed that wherever any unauthorised/illegal construction come to the notice of the authorities, it "should be stopped with immediate effect".
The bench also sought the personal presence of councillor Mukesh Suryan, Chairman of the Najafgarh Wards Committee, after the bench was told that he prevented the officers from carrying out the sealing drive in the area.
The court asked the authorities concerned to file affidavit on the allegation that Deputy Commissioner Vishwendra Singh was transferred at Suryan's behest. The authorities, however, maintained that it was a routine transfer.
The top court asserted that the sealing drive will continue in Delhi. It directed Delhi Police to ensure adequate protections to officers involved in the sealing of illegal and unauthorised buildings.
The court was hearing pleas relating to the validity of the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006 and subsequent legislation that protected unauthorised constructions from sealing.
The sealing drive in Delhi is being carried out by a Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee against business establishments using residential properties for commercial purposes. It is being implemented by the three BJP-led Municipal Corporations of Delhi.
The committee was set up by the Supreme Court in 2006. In 2012, the apex court asked the committee to stop the drive. But in December 2017 it ordered resumption of the drive.
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 10 with recovery of one more body; 3 tourists still missing
Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time.
The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra.
"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI.
Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing.
Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added.
Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said.
More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.
Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said.
Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.
