Has become fashion to get favourable court order: NDMC lawyer on Jahangirpuri demolition drive

The NDMC had launched an anti-encroachment drive in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri on Wednesday. However, the Supreme Court stepped in, saying the demolition drive must stop and the status quo be maintained.

The Supreme Court ordered a stay on the demolition drive that was being carried out in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri on Wednesday. Following the court order asking for the status quo to be maintained in Jahangirpuri, the lawyer for North Delhi Municipal Corporation alleged that it has become a “fashion” to get favourable interim order from the court and let the issue remain pending.

The NDMC had launched an anti-encroachment drive in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri on Wednesday, April 20. The development followed just days after communal clashes broke out in the area during a Hanuman Jayanti procession on Saturday evening. However, the Supreme Court stepped in, saying the demolition drive must stop and status quo be maintained.

Speaking to India Today, senior advocate Sanjay Poddar, special counsel for the NDMC, clarified the civic body’s stand on the matter. He said that the common people are suffering due to illegal encroachments on a daily basis, and asked who will speak for them.

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Sanjay Poddar referred to an earlier Supreme Court judgment to point out that no advance notice needs to be issued to carry out anti-encroachment drive.

“Supreme Court has clarified in its 2019 judgment that in case of illegal encroachments no prior notice is required to be issued by the municipal bodies,” Sanjay Poddar said.

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