Supreme Courts slams Centre over sealing drive in Delhi

Additional solicitor general Atmaram Nadkarni apologised for the time taken by officers from the Centre to confirm how many houses were surveyed in south Delhi’s Amar Colony.

The Centre got an earful from the Supreme Court on Thursday for the long time taken by bureaucrats to confirm details about unauthorised construction in the national capital.

The action has been taken against factories running illegally from residential areas on the direction of Supreme Court. (Sonu Mehta/HT Photo)

“Don’t be sorry. Delhi is sorry,” Justice Madan Lokur shot back at the government’s senior law officer who apologised.

Additional solicitor general Atmaram Nadkarni apologised for the time taken by officers from the Centre to confirm how many houses were surveyed in south Delhi’s Amar Colony.

“Look at your officers’ efficiency. This is why Delhi is where it is. You take months to finalise data and months to analyse it, months to issue show cause notice, months to adjudicate. By then Delhi will collapse and then you will say the petition is infructuous,” Justice Lokur said.

The comments came after South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) sealed 30 shops on Friday in Amar Colony area. The action was taken on the directions of the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee looking into land use violations in the national capital.