Supreme Court gives relief to sealing victims of Delhi

Supreme Court gives relief to sealing victims of Delhi

"If it is a fact that the premises which have been sealed on the ground of unauthorised change of user from residential to commercial, was actually sold as a shop, we see no reason why the sealing should continue," the Apex Court said

The Supreme Court has come to the aid of the sealing victims of Delhi by asking the local civic body not to seal any premises legally sold in the past as a shop.

The division bench of comprising of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian directed the amicus curiae Advocate A D N Rao scrutinize the relevant original purchase documents and submit a report within four weeks while observing that the issue related to the right of livelihood of people.

The Court took the stand when it initiated hearing an application filed on behalf of the Defence Colony Market Welfare Association by Senior Advocate P S Narasimha.

Narasimha submitted that many shops in the market were sealed by the authorities alleging unauthorized conversion of residential use to commercial use. He further informed the Court that the premises in question were originally purchased as shops and hence there was no question of unauthorized conversion of the user.

"If it is a fact that the premises which have been sealed on the ground of unauthorised change of user from residential to commercial, was actually sold as a shop, we see no reason why the sealing should continue," the bench said.

The Court has also permitted South Delhi Municipal Corporation to point out documents showing the true status of the shops in question.

Conversion of the user from residential to commercial has been a major problem in the Indian capital for decades. The colonial British rulers and subsequently the local government after India's independence had constructed several markets like the Connaught Place and Khan Market which were originally of mix-use, with shops on the ground floor and residential complex on the first and second floors. However, now only a handful of residential complexes exist as all floors were commercialised in the later years. Shops opened up on ground floors of roadside buildings to cater to the growing commercialization needs of India's most populous city.

Sealing of illegal and unauthorised commercial buildings and premises was started by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 2006. Later in the same year, the Supreme Court intervened and appointed a Monitoring Committee to address the issue of the use of residential premises for commercial purposes and to inspect premises in which illegal constructions had come up.

Working of the court-appointed monitoring committed, however, was always mired in controversy due to its selective approach and whimsical decisions forcing the Apex Court in August 2020 to set aside the sealing of residential units done by the Monitoring Committee, observing that the Monitoring Committee had acted beyond its brief and was never been authorized to take action against the residential premises that were not being used for commercial purposes.

The sword of sealing continues to hang over the heads of lakhs of businessmen in the city since the local authorities and the state and central governments are yet to find a solution to the problem since if the land user policy is implemented in letters and spirit, at least half of Delhi's commercial establishments would have to shut their premises and pull out of business.