After years of stalemate, Kalkaji sub-divisional Justice of the Peace (SDM) knowledgeable the Delhi Excessive Court docket on Wednesday that in session with the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), bodily demarcation of the Tughlakabad Fort protected space shall be accomplished inside three weeks.
This, after the ASI, by means of its counsel, knowledgeable HC that the bodily demarcation is but to be carried out.
A division bench of Chief Justice D Ok Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela had on Tuesday pulled up the authorities for the delay in finishing the bodily demarcation regardless of the courtroom’s repeated orders to take away encroachments from the protected space.
The courtroom has been listening to a bunch of petitions, one courting way back to to 2001, over the difficulty of removing of encroachments in Tughlakabad Fort.
Final December, the HC had recorded in its order, “…it’s obvious that for one purpose or the opposite, the bodily demarcation has not been performed to this point, for previous a number of years, which we contemplate to be vital to deal with the difficulty of rampant encroachment within the space.”
It had requested the SDM in addition to the extra director common of ASI to hitch the proceedings on the subsequent date of listening to “to help this courtroom for decision” of the difficulty.
Kalkaji SDM Anuj Bharti, showing earlier than the courtroom on Wednesday, stated that he was posted at his present jurisdiction solely final November and was thereafter engaged in duties associated to the Delhi polls.
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Bharti assured the courtroom that its order directing for a bodily demarcation of the realm will probably be accomplished. “It received’t take a lot time now, we will get it finished in per week… Maps have already been ready by tehsildar… coordinates can be found.”
The bench recorded Bharti’s assertion, noting that “in session with ASI, the bodily demarcation of the realm shall be accomplished in three weeks”.
The HC will hear the matter subsequent on March 26, when it additionally directed {that a} report concerning work finished on the matter associated to bodily demarcation be submitted earlier than the courtroom.
The difficulty of encroachment in Tughlakabad Fort space had earlier reached the Supreme Court docket as properly. In 2016, the SC had recorded that “repeated orders are handed to the impact that there wouldn’t be any additional building within the protected monument”, which implies ASI has to take motion for removing of unauthorised building as additionally encroachers from the general public land. Nonetheless, the encroachments had continued.
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In an order issued in April 2023, the HC had recorded that ASI had already served 1,248 notices in direction of varied structural encroachments throughout the fort.
Because the courtroom order had recorded, the ASI is in full management of the realm in query. Nonetheless, since varied state departments handed the buck over removing of the encroachments, the HC had in Could 2017 constituted a committee — comprising varied state departments — to conduct a survey of the realm and take applicable steps for removing of encroachments.
Nonetheless, in April 2023, the ASI had expressed its “helplessness” in eradicating the encroachments on account of “non-cooperation of different departments”, together with MCD and GNCTD.
In August 2023, the courtroom was additionally knowledgeable that about
100 bigha of land has already been free of encroachments and a wall is being constructed across the space.
