E-Paper
SC notice on plea challenging change of Central Vista land use
Under the project, the PM’s residence will come up behind the existing South Block while the new V-P residence would be located behind North Block. As the area is presently occupied by a public recreational park and a bus depot, the petition questioned the change of land use from part-recreational to residential resulting in a loss of public recreational space for citizens.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of the Centre on a petition questioning the change of land use of a public recreational spot in Central Vista for purposes of constructing residences of the Prime Minister and Vice President under the Central Vista Project.
The petition was filed by a lawyer Rajeev Suri, who had earlier filed the petition challenging the clearances given by the Delhi Development Authority, Central Vista Committee and the environmental clearances for the Central Vista project resulting in an elaborate judgment of the top court in January this year which allowed the Centre to proceed with the construction.
However, the judgment did not deal with the change of land use of Plot no. 1, the land meant for the residences of PM and Vice President, as it was sanctioned only on October 10, 2020.
Under the project, the PM’s residence will come up behind the existing South Block while the new V-P residence would be located behind North Block. As the area is presently occupied by a public recreational park and a bus depot, the petition questioned the change of land use from part-recreational to residential resulting in a loss of public recreational space for citizens.
Advocate Shikhil Suri arguing for the petitioner said, “The Government must show how the change of land use is justified in public interest.” He stated that all other challenges with regard to the said land had been addressed by the judgment of the Court in the Central Vista case.
The bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and CT Ravikumar issued notice to the Centre and said, “The petitioner wishes to pursue only one contention, namely, before modification of the plan concerning plot No. 1, it had provided for public recreational area also, as noticed from the public notice. However, now that has been completely done away with and the land use stands converted to residential only.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the Centre and accepted the notice and agreed to file an affidavit in three days. Posting the matter for Friday, the bench said, “The respondents (Centre) may file a short affidavit to deal with this contention….including to justify the necessity for such modification.”
The petitioner informed the Court that the land falling under Plot no 1 has facility for transportation spread across nine acres while the recreational space is six acres, which will now be lost for all coming generations of the country.
The bench asked the Centre whether any alternate recreational space had been contemplated while acquiring the present plot. “From the petition it is clear that the public recreational area is not available now. Are you giving it up completely or is it being shifted to any other place,” the bench observed. Mehta said, “If Parliament is coming up nearby, from the security point of view, there cannot be any recreational spot.” He agreed to take instructions in this regard by the next date.
The proposed Central Vista Project envisages a new Parliament with a built-up area of around 60,000 square metres and expanded seating for over 1,200 members of both Houses, along with 51 Union ministries in 10 buildings.
As per the estimates prepared by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), the work on the new Parliament is expected to be completed before the 75th Independence Day next year while the Central Secretariat complex is slated for completion by 2024. The residence of the Prime Minister along with the building housing elite special protection group (SPG) has a deadline of December next year while the work on the Vice President’s house is expected to be completed by May 2022.
