"It Has Become A Slum": Court To Delhi Civic Body On Illegal Construction

This "ping-pong between" the authorities will stop after the CBI gets into action, it remarked.

The Delhi High Court said on Thursday that the city has become a slum and the civic authorities must work together against illegal construction as it pulled up the MCD and DDA over their failure to act against unauthorised construction near Nizamuddin ki Baoli and Barakhamba Tomb, two centrally-protected monuments.

Asking the authorities to stop passing the buck to one another, a bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan said, "Very sad affairs you have reduced the city to." "This jugalbandi has to be stopped. Don't do this to the city. It has become a slum," the bench, also comprising Justice Manmeet PS Arora, added.

The court, which was dealing with an instance where unauthorised construction was stated to have taken place on the upper floors of an already-sealed guesthouse that was illegally built on DDA land near the monuments, sought the presence of the owner of the building and opined that "prima facie, the matter requires investigation by the CBI".