Illegal construction on the rise, must be dealt with sternly, says court

Unauthorised construction is rapidly rising in Delhi and NCR which needs to be dealt with a stern hand, a court here said while sending a man behind bars for a month for building structures on his property without necessary approvals.

Additional Sessions Judge Lokesh Kumar Sharma sent south Delhi resident Dulal Biswas to jail while dismissing his appeal against a magisterial court order.

“Keeping in view the fact that unauthorised constructions are on the rise in the National Capital Region of Delhi and the people indulging in such illegal construction activities and the society needs to be given a strict message, no leniency can be shown towards the appellant especially when the magistrate had already awarded him a notional sentence which is much lesser to maximum punishment provided for it.

“Accordingly, the appeal as filed is dismissed, being devoid of any merits, and the appellant is taken into custody to serve the sentence as awarded to him...” the judge said.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government conducted 310 inspections during last four days to check the implementation of the ban on construction and demolition activities and burning of leaves and garbage in the open. It found 171 violations and imposed fines worth Rs 63.70 lakh.

The details were provided in the meeting to review the progress of the ongoing ban. The meeting was chaired by Environment Minister Imran Hussain and was attended by senior officials of the Environment Department and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee.