Court reserves order on plea to halt Vista work

The Central Vista project envisages constructing a new Parliament House, a new residential complex that will house the Prime Minister and the Vice-President, as well as several new office buildings and a Central Secretariat to accommodate ministry offices.

Richa Banka

Construction work underway as part of the Central Vista project, at Rajpath in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)

richa.banka@htlive.com

New Delhi The central government on Monday told the Delhi high court that the petition seeking stoppage of the partial redevelopment work on the Central Vista is an attempt to halt the project with oblique motives.

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the petitioners, on the other hand said the Centre was trying to shoot the messenger instead of focusing on the message of health, life and safety. Terming the project as the “central fortress of death” instead of the Central Vista, Luthra said its deadline could be pushed to December 30 instead of November 30.

A bench of chief justice DN Patel and justice Jyoti Singh reserved its judgment on the petition seeking a stay on the ongoing construction at Central Vista Avenue amid the Covid pandemic.

The Central Vista project envisages constructing a new Parliament House, a new residential complex that will house the Prime Minister and the Vice-President, as well as several new office buildings and a Central Secretariat to accommodate ministry offices.

The court was hearing a plea by Anya Malhotra, who works as a translator, and Sohail Hashmi, a historian and documentary filmmaker, seeking to halt the ongoing partial redevelopment of the Central Vista Avenue which includes both sides of Rajpath where Republic Day celebrations are held.

While solicitor general Tushar Mehta said the plea was nothing but a “ facade of PIL created to disguise something which they wanted to stop under one pretext or the other”, Luthra said the construction does not fall in the essential category.

Luthra said exceptions were made for this project and permission was also sought to ferry workers during the peak of the pandemic in April. He said 180 vehicles were given the green signal to transport workers, which has also been admitted by the Centre, but documents have not been given to the court.

“They accept that it is a limited challenge but chooses to attack the messenger and the message is health, life, and safety, not only ours or theirs but everybody’s…,” he submitted.

Luthra clarified that the petitioners do not intend to halt the project but it is for the current phase of the pandemic.

He argued that no document of willingness by the workers was produced even when the Centre submitted that certain workers expressed willingness to stay put on the worksite. Luthra showed a photograph of April 24 to the court highlighting there is no bed, no bedding and no person in the tents.

He referred to a media report and said that seven workers were shoved in one room, adding that if there are residential accommodations for the workers, then the same have to be shown.

Rebutting the arguments, SG Mehta said the workers are staying on site and the petitioner had suppressed facts. He submitted that there is a medical facility at the site and workers will have access to something that will otherwise not be available to them.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh, for Shapoorji Pallonji, agreed with the submissions of the Centre and said that all facilities are being provided to the workers. After lengthy arguments, the court reserved its judgment.