The Delhi High Court on Monday delivered a sharp rebuke to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), condemning its decision to demolish a bungalow in the upscale Sainik Farms area while the legal challenge against the action was still pending before the court. Justice Mini Pushkarna orally observed that the land-owning agency cannot "overreach the court" in such a manner.
The Demolition and the Court's Ire
The DDA carried out the demolition on December 12, tearing down a 2,000-square-yard bungalow located inside the Tilpath Valley Biodiversity Park on the Southern Ridge. The property belonged to 78-year-old Azher Nisar Shervani, who had been residing there with his wife, son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and caretakers.
Justice Pushkarna, responding to DDA counsel R.K. Dhawan, stated, "This is overreaching the court … and someone will pay heavily for this…This is the respect they show the court." The judge emphasized that an oral assurance had been given by the DDA's counsel on December 10 that no coercive action would be taken, though this was not recorded in a formal order.
Timeline of the Legal Battle
The dispute has a detailed chronology. The DDA initiated action by issuing a show-cause notice to Azher on October 13, alleging that parts of his bungalow were constructed on the authority's designated green zone. After granting a hearing opportunity, the DDA passed a formal demolition order on October 30.
Azher promptly challenged this order before the Delhi High Court in November. He also filed an application seeking a direction to the DDA to refrain from any coercive steps until the next hearing. Furthermore, he approached the Supreme Court with a clarificatory application in the long-running MC Mehta case of 1985, seeking clarity on whether the High Court could adjudicate his matter, given that Sainik Farms is listed by the DDA as an unauthorized affluent colony excluded from regularization policies.
Fallout and Future Proceedings
The High Court noted that with the demolition already executed, Azher's application seeking protection from coercive action had been rendered infructuous, and thus dismissed it. However, Justice Pushkarna made it clear that the issue of the demolition itself would be addressed in detail when the main petition comes up for hearing on December 18.
Azher's legal team, comprising senior advocate P.S. Bindra and advocate Naunidh Singh Arora, informed the court that the matter was scheduled for December 18 precisely because the related clarificatory application was before the Supreme Court on December 17. They argued that the DDA acted before any clarification could be obtained, calling the action "very very unfortunate."
This case also intersects with broader regulatory questions. The High Court had earlier, on November 12, directed the DDA to file an affidavit stating its position on whether affluent unauthorized colonies are excluded from the 2019 property rights regulations and if they are intended to be protected under the 2011 Special Provisions Act.
