The Delhi high court on Wednesday refused to stay the city government’s decision to regularise 895 unauthorised colonies.
“No interim stay can be granted... We don’t want to interfere with the government’s decision,” said a bench of Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice R.S. Endlaw, fixing the final hearing of the matter on November 23.
The court was hearing arguments on a plea by H.R. Suri, an architect and town planner, seeking a direction to the government to restrain authorities from taking any decision to regularise unauthorised colonies.
In his petition, Suri had said, “This court is yet to decide the plea questioning the power of the Centre, the city government and the DDA to regularise unauthorised colonies and the city government cannot take a decision on a sub-judice matter.”
Referring to a media report on chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s promises to regularise 917 unauthorised colonies, Suri had said, “In case the respondents succeed in their plans and designs to illegally regularise unauthorised colonies, not only this would perpetuate illegality but will also render the petition futile and will frustrate the endeavour of the petitioner”.
Lieutenant-governor Tejendra Khanna had approved regularisation of 895 colonies on September 3.