SC Slams MCD Over Office Near 700-Yr-Old Structure

The Supreme Court on Wednesday reprimanded the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for continuing to operate an office near a 700-year-old Lodhi-era monument in Defence Colony, despite earlier directions to vacate the area.

- Abraham Thomas

NEW DELHI: The court granted the civic body 48 hours to clear the site "lock, stock, and barrel".

The monument in question—Gumti of Shaikh Ali—sits at the centre of a roundabout near the Defence Colony market. Earlier this year, the apex court had come down heavily on the Defence Colony Resident Welfare Association (RWA), ordering it to vacate the structure after decades of illegal occupation, and directed its restoration.

On Wednesday, the bench led by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia expressed strong disapproval of MCD's claim that its office, located "adjacent" to the monument, was "strategically situated" to carry out emergency operations in South Delhi. "What kind of MCD are you?" the bench asked. "Do you not know that no construction is allowed within 200 metres of a heritage monument? If you continue in this place, we will haul your commissioner for contempt."