All stays on sealing by Delhi agency in Chandni Chowk to end Dec 31: SC

This essentially gives affected residents until December 31 to approach the court to challenge the vacation of the stay order

New Delhi

The court gave people until December 31 to challenge the order. (HT Archive)

The Supreme Court on Monday took a significant step to rid the Walled City of illegal commercial misuse of residential premises, by directing that any stay order against sealing action by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) shall become ineffective from December 31. This essentially gives affected parties until December 31 to approach the court to challenge the vacation of the stay order.

A bench of justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh passed the order as part of a series of steps to rid commercial misuse of residential properties after it took suo motu notice of large-scale violations and pulled up civic authorities for turning a blind eye to such violations.

The bench said, “All stay orders granted by the appellate tribunal of MCD (ATMCD) or Delhi high court are hereby stayed and shall become ineffective from December 31, 2025. If any person has any grievance against such order, he/she would be at liberty to approach this court by December 31.”

The court was hearing a petition filed by two residents of Chandni Chowk who complained about illegal construction on the top of their ground floor house in Bagh Deewar, Fatehpuri. On their plea, the court had stopped the ongoing work and expanded the scope to the entire area directing the MCD to take immediate steps to seal any property that defied the court orders.

The present order is one among the many directions passed by the top court to enforce rule of law and ensure unauthorised constructions in the Walled City are curbed. In July, the court directed the Delhi Police to step up vigil in Chandni Chowk by carrying out intensive patrolling every day to ensure compliance of court order prohibiting unauthorised construction and illegal conversion of residential units into commercial spaces.

The bench had then observed, “This is a complete fraud happening in collusion with the MCD officials…The police needs to go on patrolling every day. If anybody tries to put a single brick in violation, you must arrest him then and there.”

On May 23, the court had directed the MCD to seal or demolish unauthorised construction and even instructed the Delhi Police to cooperate in this effort by providing logistical support to the MCD team.