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Onkar Singh in New Delhi
The Supreme Court came down heavily on the Union government on Tuesday, questioning its ability to tackle terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir and elsewhere when it could not even deal with the problem of unauthorised constructions in the capital.
A three-judge bench comprising Justices B N Kirpal, Shivraj B Patil and P V Reddy asked the government to repeal the Delhi Development Authority Act and the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act if it could not prevent sewage flowing into the Yamuna from unathorised constructions and jhuggi-jhonpri clusters.
The bench observed that the laws had been enacted to ensure systematic development of the city. If they could not be implemented, it was better to repeal them, it remarked.
Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Harish Salve told the court that there was no change in its policy on unauthorised constructions though Jagmohan had been shifted from the urban development ministry to tourism.
Counsel for the Delhi government sought more time to prepare a list of unauthorised constructions in the capital. The court then adjourned the matter for eight weeks. It will hear the case again in the first week of November.
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