Take action against encroachments in Meena Bazaar: Delhi HC

The court was responding to a plea filed by NGO Yuva Sangharsh Smiti seeking to immediately remove or seal the encroachment over the public land

The Delhi high court on Wednesday directed law enforcement agencies to act against ongoing illegal commercial activities and unauthorised construction at Meena Bazar near historic Jama Masjid.

The NGO’s plea painted a picture that uncontrolled commercial activities in the form of encroachment over the vacant public land was going on for the last 3-4 weeks by politician, builder mafia, land grabbers and the police had failed to take any action regarding the same (HT Archive)

A bench of acting chief justice Vibhu Bakhru and Tushar Rao Gedela, said that there was a need to promptly address the encroachment of public land and unlawful construction by land grabbers as per the law.

The court was responding to a plea filed by NGO Yuva Sangharsh Smiti seeking to immediately remove or seal the encroachment over the public land. The NGO’s plea painted a picture that uncontrolled commercial activities in the form of encroachment over the vacant public land was going on for the last 3-4 weeks by politician, builder mafia, land grabbers and the police had failed to take any action regarding the same. The plea went on to add that police and officials of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) were allowing same in connivance and collusion with land grabbers.

“That the officials of Police Station Jama Masjid (Through Commissioner) i.e., Respondent No. 13 and MCD i.e., Respondent No. 11 12 are in connivance and collusion with the Land Grabber, allowing the encroachment over the public land by raising unauthorized and illegal construction without any authority,” the plea stated.

It further stated that though the NGO had also served a representation regarding the encroachment over the public vacant land to various authorities, no action had been initiated till today.

To be sure, the court passed the order on a day when another bench granted the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) four weeks to complete the inspection of historic Jama Masjid to ascertain the purposes for which it was being used.