The Delhi High Court on Monday temporarily restrained the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) from taking any action against the property of a man accused in the murder of a 26-year-old in Uttam Nagar during recent Holi celebrations..Justice Amit Bansal granted 7 days' time to the accused man's family to approach MCD's Appellate Tribunal against the demolition order and asked the municipal body not to take any action for 10 days."The present application has been listed on urgent mentioning. Applicant seeks a direction restraining MCD from taking coercive action against the applicant in order for the applicant to file an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal of MCD. Having heard the counsels, one week’s time is given to file appeal. The MCD shall not take any further action against the property for a period of ten days," the Court ordered..On March 8, the MCD had demolished certain "illegal portions" of a house linked to one of the accused in the murder 26-year-old Tarun Bhutolia during Holi celebrations on March 4. The accused persons belong to Muslim community while the victim is a Hindu and the incident has assumed communal colour.Today, the Court heard a petition filed by one Shahnaz seeking protection against the demolition of her home. Shahnaz filed the petition on behalf of her father Ismail, who is in Tihar jail since March 5 as an accused in the Holi murder case..In her application, she stated that MCD plans to demolish their property, citing unauthorised construction. She alleged that the demolition order would be executed without granting any effective opportunity of hearing."My Lord please see the photo of the whole locality. What I have done is exactly what is there in every building. I am being picked and chosen, the whole locality is identical. They have already carried out demolition on Friday. Now they are again coming tomorrow or day after. Please let me have an opportunity," counsel for Shahnaz argued today.Her plea said the demolitions were a punitive measure over their alleged involvement in the murder. .Meanwhile, the Court today sought a response from the MCD on an application seeking action against Shahnaz's property over alleged unauthorized construction.The Court also directed the MCD to inspect Shahnaz's property and take appropriate action in accordance with law."By way of this application, the applicant seeks action against the property of the petitioner as it is the case of the applicant that the petitioner has approached this case with unclean hands and is himself guilty of unauthorized construction. Issue notice. Reply be filed," the Court directed.
