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Delhi shop sealings to go on: SC
Onkar Singh in New Delhi | November 06, 2006 10:37 IST
Last Updated: November 06, 2006 15:10 IST
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A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal on Monday¬†refused to give any reprieve to traders operating commercial establishments from residential premises and ordered the authorities to resume sealing operations against such traders. The apex court directed the Union government and the Delhi government to provide adequate security to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to seal the unauthorised shops in residential areas. In his order, the Chief Justice at one stage said: "If the sanctity of the Constitution is to be saved, then such force, whether police or otherwise, shall be provided by the Central government and the Delhi government."
"I am worried about what may happen to the orders of high courts and lower courts if Supreme Court's orders are not obeyed," he said.
"Will the matters be decided on the streets than in the courts," he queried, adding that it was the duty of the government and not the court to maintain law and order. The bench stated that the sealing operations will continue under the supervision of the monitoring committee, which will submit a weekly report.
The group of ministers headed by Home Minister Shivraj Patil is likely to meet in the evening to take stock of the Supreme Court order. PTI adds:
The Delhi police has tightened security across the national capital to avoid any untoward incident. Delhi police deployed Rapid Action Force and increased presence of security personnel in all the sensitive areas to keep the situation under control. Earlier, Confederation of All India Traders general secretary Praveen Khandelwal had said: "Our future course of action will depend on the outcome of the Supreme Court hearing followed by a meeting of the Group of Ministers in the evening. The government will also deliberate on the issue in case of an adverse order."
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Number of User Comments: 35
Sub: Pehle chori aur phir seena-jori?
Bribe payer and giver, both are guilty, and both should be punished. SC is right for taking action on traders, and later, should take action ...
Posted by Koushik Paul
Sub: Its a shame.....
Its a shame on our national parties to try legalise the unauthorised commercial establishments. That they do have an electricity connection or that they have ...
Posted by sidhardhan
Sub: Rule of Law Should Prevail
If you want to see INIDA as a progressing and developing nation, all of us will have to be dutybound, responsible and accountable. The RULE ...
Posted by BISHNU CHARAN PATRO
Sub: why put a seal on traders fate
For the last one year the traders community in Delhi is living a life in hell. What\\\'s their fault ? Why were they issued Sales ...
Posted by atul gupta
Sub: Excellent Decision: Nobody is above the law
We can all see that the media and politicians are trying to rake up violence. Why did the traders build illegal shops by giving bribe ...
Posted by shishir kumar
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The Indian Supreme Court has refused to grant any relief to the owners of unauthorised commercial establishments in New Delhi. A two judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal, said today that it found no grounds for modifying its previous order to seal commercial establishments violating zoning regulations. 

The Group of ministers had previously decided not to resume the sealing drive. The Delhi state government and the central government had filed an application to review the order on November 3, 2006 because of fear of violence in the city if the sealing would be resumed. But Supreme Court denied their request and ordered to resume the sealing drive.

The apex court added that the government is not powerless to control the situation. According to article 141 and 144 of the constitution, authorities should follow the court's order.

The court ordered the MCD to use police force, if required, to carry out the process. The MCD has decided to meet in the afternoon to discuss the consequences of the Supreme Court verdict.

On the other hand, traders are very unhappy with the court order. Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), said that the traders were expecting the apex court to take a humanitarian decision. He added that if the sealing drive is not stopped traders would start a non-cooperation movement, a nationwide strike against the government.