Delhi High Court asks Police Commissioner, NDMC Commissioner to appear, explain Chandni Chowk encroachments

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Delhi Police Commissioner and the Commissioner of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to appear before it and explain the reason for continued encroachments at Chandni Chowk [Chandni Chowk Sarv Vyapar Mandal v Commission of Police and Ors]..The direction came from a Division Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh, which expressed its strong displeasure over the continued squatting and vending activities in the area that has left almost no space for pedestrians or traffic, despite the fact that it was declared a no-vending zone..The judges said that the ad-hoc actions taken for selective removal of encroachments in the area by the Delhi Police and municipal authorities have not yielded the desired result. The time has come for the Court to require the presence of the senior officials to propose how they will deal with the ongoing menace, it stated.“The order of the Supreme Court was passed 16 years ago. Even this Court has been passing orders in these proceedings which were initiated in 2017, but on the ground, there seems to be hardly any improvement. We cannot accept the position that the authorities are helpless. They cannot surrender or abdicate their statutory responsibilities. Such acceptance and surrender by the authorities will lead to anarchy and greater failure of the rule of law,” the Court said in its order..The Bench directed the standing counsel for the city police and municipal corporations to place before these officials the previous orders of the Court, and called for status reports to be filed by them so that they are aware of the situation..The Court was dealing with a petition filed by the local trader's association highlighting the status of encroachment in the area.This is not the first time that the Court has expressed its displeasure over squatting and vending in Chandni Chowk.Even in November, it had termed the situation in the area as a 'mela' and lamented the fact that Court had to again and again exercise its powers by pulling up authorities like town-planners, NDMC, to ensure that some amount of regulation is brought about in this aspect."Too many holes, too many problems. Not enough political will also. Who is going to view those camera recordings. You won't do anything about the issue but you will record it and that is supposed to solve everything?" the Court had then said.Not only Chandni Chowk, the Court has expressed its displeasure over the encroachment and illegal vending activities in places like Connaught Palace, Nehru Place and several other locations around the national capital..On Friday, the Court expressed its displeasure over the fact that the Delhi Police in its status report filed photographs of January 22, 23 and 26.It was pointed out by counsel for the petitioners, Senior Advocate Sanjeev Ralli, that while January 22 and 23 were strict curfew days, January 26 was Republic Day when no squatting of hawking activity was permitted in the area for security reasons.The Bench therefore said that this was a clear endeavour to mislead the Court..The Court noted that the Delhi Police had earlier informed it that CCTV cameras were being installed in the area. Even as counsel for the police submitted that around 330 cameras will soon be installed, the Court directed him to file a status report on this aspect.The case will now be considered on February 28.