Delhi HC declines urgent hearing on plea against demolition near Satya Niketan collapse site
The Delhi High Court refused urgent listing of a plea over the MCD's demolition of a building next to the collapsed Satya Niketan hostel, asking the lawyer for a factual basis.
The Delhi High Court on Monday declined to grant an urgent hearing to a plea concerning the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's decision to demolish a building adjoining the Satya Niketan hostel that collapsed last week.
A lawyer appearing before a Bench of Chief Justice D. K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia submitted that the authorities had gone ahead with the demolition without clearing debris from the hostel's basement, and that some people could still be trapped there. The lawyer sought an urgent listing of the matter.
The Bench, however, pressed the lawyer on the evidentiary basis for the claim. It observed that the authorities would have carried out some form of audit before deciding to bring down the adjoining structure, and asked whether the assertion about people being buried was anything more than conjecture.
The court told the lawyer that there should be some foundation for such submissions, and that a petition should not be filed "in air". It asked what technical information was available to support the plea, and said the matter would be listed in its normal turn.
The five-storey building at Satya Niketan, which housed a boys' paying-guest accommodation near Delhi University's South Campus, collapsed on September 6 while repair work was under way. Seven people died in the incident.
On September 7, the High Court ordered a high-level MCD inquiry into the collapse and made clear that the government could not evade responsibility. It described the incident as unfortunate and said it raised serious concerns about the adequacy of housing facilities, including hostels run by Delhi University or the government, the safety and security of students, and the sufficiency of the measures used by the MCD and other authorities to regulate such PG facilities.
The civic body began a controlled demolition of the adjoining building on September 8 after deeming it dangerous. That structure housed a girls' paying-guest accommodation and had been evacuated following the collapse of the neighbouring building.