Before Delhi coaching hub deaths, plea in HC pointed to 18 buildings ‘intact’ despite MCD ‘demolition’

Three months before the three coaching centre deaths in Delhi’s Karol Bagh zone and an official crackdown against illegal constructions, the Delhi High Court had disposed of a petition which accused the Municipal Corporation of Delhi of inaction over 18 unauthorised constructions in the same municipal zone. 

It was after the civic body had filed an action taken report claiming it had carried out demolitions on 14 of those structures, that it lacked records on three “old structures”, and that the owner of one structure had approached the civic body’s appellate tribunal for relief last year.

But when the same ATR was shared with the petitioner, NGO Paardarshita Public Welfare Foundation, two months after the court had dismissed the matter in April, the NGO filed another petition, with photographs that purportedly showed the illegal constructions intact in all the 18 buildings.

It sought a CBI probe and called the action taken report by MCD Karol Bagh zone building department head Kumar Mahendra an “eyewash”. Hearing the petition on July 12, the court asked authorities, including the CBI, MCD, and police, to file affidavits. The next hearing is on October 15.

The NGO, led by its president Harikrishan Das Nijhawan, alleged illegal construction and misuse of properties in Karol Bagh and Rajinder Nagar in violation of the Unified Building Bye Laws, 2016, the Delhi Master Plan, 2021, and the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957.

What did the MCD action taken report say?

In the action taken report furnished on June 12, Kumar Mahendra pointed to action against 14 of the 18 properties. For a commercial building in Western Extension Area of Karol Bagh, Mahendra wrote: “There is no building plan available in the records. It’s a very old building comprising the ground floor, first floor, second floor and third floor, which is locked for some time now.”

For two other commercial-cum-residential buildings, the action taken report claimed that building plan records were not available. 

Mahendra and three other junior officials from his department were suspended on June 26 for allegedly forging the signature of Himanshu Gupta, the former deputy commissioner of Karol Bagh. The other three officials were assistant engineer Narendra Singh Meena, junior engineer Arnab Dutta, and Jitendra Kumar Singh. 

This came following a June 26 order issued in Gupta’s name to seal a property in Kirti Nagar for alleged commercial misuse. The order bore the “forged signature” of Gupta, who was the deputy commissioner of Karol Bagh until 2021. Newslaundry has a copy of the order.   

Why petitioner called MCD report an ‘eyewash’

In the new petition filed on July 10, Paardarshita alleged that no such demolition took place and Mahendra did not specify the nature of encroachment and illegality, and what was demolished.

For the three “old” buildings whose building plan records were not available with the Karol Bagh Zone, the petitioner showed through GPS photographs that “new construction” had taken place.

In its reply to the MCD, Paardarshita also wrote that construction was ongoing without any permission from the MCD or any building plan. 

“The EE (B) is silent about the fresh ongoing illegal and unauthorised shops in the property,” said the petition, referring to Kumar Mahendra. The GPS photo attached in the petition showed the façade of a building branded as K’s Mall.

For two other commercial-cum-residential buildings, the petitioner furnished GPS photographs claiming that shops were still being run from the premises. Interestingly, owners paid conversion charges – imposed when a property is converted from residential to commercial — for these two buildings. According to MPD 2021, in mixed use areas, residential and commercial properties can coexist on compliance of rules and regulations.

For a residential building in Old Rajinder Nagar, Mahendra said the demolition action was taken in 2022. But the petitioner alleged that the fourth floor, constructed in alleged violation of building bylaws, was still intact. The photograph of the building also showed the same.

“I have attached GPS photos in the petition to show that what MCD is claiming is contrary to the ground reality,” Paardarshita’s Nijhawan told Newslaundry.

The petition also alleged a “close nexus” between builders, owners, and civic officials for illegal construction on “mass scale”.

Central agency may probe coaching centre incident

In another petition filed by the trustees of NGO Kutumb over the coaching centre tragedy in Old Rajinder Nagar, the Delhi High Court has asked MCD commissioner Ashwani Kumar and Delhi police chief Sanjay Arora to be present in the next court hearing on Friday.

Rudra Vikram Singh, lawyer for the petitioner, said they would ask the court if the investigation could be transferred to another agency if it is not satisfied with the Delhi police’s investigation. The court may consider transferring the investigation to a central agency.

Delhi police have arrested seven people, including an SUV driver who drove past the waterlogged Rau’s IAS building. “MCD will also submit a status report on the Rajinder Nagar incident,” said Singh.

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