Jagmohan pulls up DDA

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JULY 17. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has been taken to task by the Union Urban Development Minister, Mr. Jagmohan, for having failed to carry out demolition of unauthorised constructions in the Jama Masjid area, as directed by the Delhi High Court.

At the same time, Mr. Jagmohan has held the Delhi Government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi responsible for the non- implementation of the Delhi High Court directives of November 28 and February 28 asking them to remove all illegal constructions and encroachments from the Jama Masjid area.

At its hearing on July 10, the two, member Divisional Bench of the Chief Justice Mr.Justice Arjit Passayat and Mr. Justice D. K. Jain, asked DDA Vice Chairman and MCD Commissioner to be present at the court in person on August 16 to explain why ``contempt proceedings'' should not be initiated against them.

In a strong note, Mr. Jagmohan has asked the DDA to submit a report at the earliest as to why the Court directive was not followed. It has also been asked to fix the responsibility to the concerned officials in this regard.

``The Delhi High Court had passed orders for the removal of encroachments in the area, but the Delhi Government, DDA and MCD had not carried it out. As a result, the court had passed some unfavourable observations against the DDA,'' Mr. Jagmohan said.

``A report in this matter should be immediately obtained from DDA Vice Chairman and its Member (Engineer),'' the letter said. Not only this, in an attempt to ensure that such type of grave negligence was not repeated, Mr. Jagmohan said that all those cases where the Union was also a party, the affidavits, to be filed by the DDA, should be compulsorily shown to the Ministry before filing it.

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