'Dismiss Plea Against Central Vista With Fine': Centre To Supreme Court

The Central Vista project involves a do-over of a 3.2 km stretch in Delhi, which was designed by the British before Independence, at the cost of Rs 20,000 crore

The Supreme Court has asked a petitioner challenging the Central Vista project - on grounds it will impact a "public recreational" zone - to file an affidavit by November 16. This is in response to the government filing its affidavit today, in which it called the plea "misconceived".The government has also urged the court to dismiss the petition with costs.

In its affidavit the government said the plot in question had been used for Defence Ministry offices for the past 90 years, and it had never been open for the public's "recreation purposes".

There is "no question of 'neighbourhood play area' being affected as there are no residential colonies in the immediate vicinity, offices, the government told the court.

The court was also told the government had "on its own" decided to increase available public recreation areas in the Central Vista master plan; this is "for the larger benefit of the public", it said.