Delhi High Court seeks response of NDMC, MCD in PIL against sealing procedure

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the responses of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition raising concern regarding the sealing procedure under Sealing of Unauthorized Construction Rules of NDMC and MCD..The petitioner, advocate Amit Sahni, pointed out that under the sealing rules, the sealing order is served on the affected person only after the premises are sealed.“Order is supplied only after sealing which violates their rights,” Sahni, who appeared in-person, said. Thus, the practice of sealing premises without serving the sealing order on the affected person deprives such person of his statutory rights and amounts to an arbitrary exercise of power..The bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela considered the submissions and issued notice to NDMC, MCD and MoHUA. .The petitioner submitted that a copy of the sealing order should be provided to the affected persons before the sealing process is initiated.The current process deprives the affected person of the opportunity to avail the statutory remedy, it was contended. "As a result, the owner/occupier is often taken by surprise, as the premises are sealed, and the orders are communicated only after the sealing has taken place,” the petition stated..Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay told NDMC that the procedure was rendering the affected person's right to contest matter moot.“You are making right to appeal nugatory.”“How can this be done?” Justice Gedela demanded..The NDMC Counsel read out the provisions of the sealing rules and stated, “We have to be stringent, there is legislative intent.”“Whatever be the intent, how can this be done? Suppose there is a shop, you seal it, what will be his daily income, how is this punitive,” the Bench questioned. .“It is only a temporary arrangement to prevent further construction. This is not the case that no opportunity is given before demolition action, notice is given first. Seal is temporary,” the NDMC counsel replied. .Justice Gedela then questioned the petitioner. “You are not caught unaware, you know what is happening. You have been filing many petitions on unauthorised constructions. We hope your challenge is well thought of.” “Heaven will not fall if they hold their hands for some time. They will have to challenge the actual sealing.”.The Court eventually issued notice to the respondents and posted the case for hearing next on April 3.