DDA ticked off by HC for sealing Games Village flats

Delhi HC came down heavily on DDA for sealing 65 Commonwealth Games Village flats.

The Delhi High Court today came down heavily on DDA for sealing 65 Commonwealth Games Village flats after allocating them to various people.

Justice Hima Kohli chiding Delhi Development Authority while rejecting its contention that the flats had been built in violation of the floor area ratio (FAR) limit.

“Why did you seal the flats which were allotted to people? Is it your statutory duty to pick and choose? What were your officers doing all these years when the builder had exceeded the FAR limit,said Justice Kohli and asked DDA counsel Ajay Verma to explain the basis on which the agency sealed flats in only two towers — 5 and 15 — but not in other 32 towers.

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Directing DDA to ‘deseal’ the flats of eight petitioners,who have approached the court against the sealing,in two days,Justice Kohli ordered the civic agency not to take further action till the final disposal of the petition concerning the flat allotment issue.

“You shut your eyes when the construction was going on or you wanted to protect the interest of certain people,” the court observed while rejecting DDA’s argument that it was its statutory duty to comply with the direction of Appellate Tribunal of MCD,which had asked DDA to hear the plea of the builder and pass an order on the issue in two weeks.