Delhi Sealing :Govt. sought the Supreme Court’s permission to regularise unauthorised colonies
Additional solicitor general Vikas Singh told a bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran that the Centre needed the permission as the court in its February 14, 2006, order had said that unauthorised colonies would not be regularised unless the government was in a position to provide basic amenities to these illegal residential areas.
Though amicus curiae Ranjit Kumar suggested that the matter be entrusted to the bench hearing sealing and regularisation matters, the court issued notices to the Delhi government, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) on the Centre’s application and asked them to file their responses within four weeks.
The court had in February 2006 ordered: “In case the state/authorities are not in a position to make available the basic services in respect whereof it is admitted that there are severe limitations, there shall be no regularisation of unauthorised colonies.
“In other words, it means that regularisation should be made only if it is possible for respondents to make available the basic services. This order will continue till further orders,” it had said.
The Centre’s application, filed through counsel Wasim Qadri, stated that the government was now in a position to provide basic amenities to these colonies and regularising them would help clean the Yamuna river. It has identified 1,100-odd of the 1,433 colonies for regularisation.