Delhi High Court Directs Centre to Decide on Sainik Farm Regularisation in Two Months
The Delhi High Court has directed the Centre and relevant authorities to take a collective decision within two months on regularising the Sainik Farm colony in south Delhi, observing that the finalisation and approval of the Delhi Development Authority's Master Plan for Delhi (MPD) 2047 is likely to take more time.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia issued the directive after Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, representing the Centre, submitted that MPD 2047 had been forwarded to the Union government for approval. The law officer submitted that the government could only take a holistic view of the matter once the master plan was approved and officially published.
The court observed that the preparation and approval of a master plan is a lengthy task and its finalisation would take time. The bench noted that even after consideration, the master plan would become operational only upon publication through a formal notification, meaning the regularisation issue could not be kept pending indefinitely.
Directing the authorities to act in line with its earlier August 13 order, the court ordered that the outcome of the exercise be formally placed on record through an affidavit submitted by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The matter has been posted for further hearing in November.
On August 13, the high court had pulled up the Centre over delays in taking a final call on the issue, emphasising that residents whose houses were constructed nearly five decades ago remain in limbo and are unable to execute basic structural repairs.
The directions were issued on a petition filed in 2015 by Ramesh Dugar, convener of the area development committee of Sainik Farm and the Defence Services Enclave Residents Welfare Association. The plea sought regularisation of the colony along with permission to carry out property repairs, alleging that authorities had adopted a discriminatory stance towards Sainik Farm despite formulating policies for other unauthorised colonies.
