SC stays proposed changes in Delhi’s Master Plan 2021

The Supreme Court on Tuesday put a stay on proposed amendments to the Delhi Master Plan 2021 that sought to protect traders from a sealing drive in the national capital by increasing the floor area ratio (FAR).

A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta slammed the Delhi government and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for not filing affidavits on whether an environment impact assessment was conducted before proposing an amendment to the Master Plan.

"This is contempt... This dadagiri has to stop. You can't tell this court that you keep passing orders but we will do what we want to," said the court.

The bench also discharged Bharatiya Janata Party MLA O P Sharma and municipal councillor Gunjan Gupta of BJP, against whom it had issued show cause notices for contempt for allegedly obstructing authorities from carrying out the sealing drive in Shahdra zone.

After going through a CD containing a video footage of protest, the court said it appeared that they were not obstructing the authorities.

The court, however, reprimanded Sharma for using derogatory language in the video footage against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, calling it "absolutely unacceptable".

"You cannot insult the Prime Minister and any Chief Minister just because they are not from your political party. You must show respect to them. You are destroying the institution. This is absolutely unacceptable," it added.

The Supreme Court was hearing petitions against the unauthorized use of residential premises for commercial purposes.

The DDA has recently proposed to finalise amendments to the Delhi Master Plan 2021 to provide immediate relief to traders.

The proposed amendments include increasing Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of shopping complexes from existing 180 per cent to 300 per cent, regularizing agricultural warehouses on 12 metre wide roads, allowing uniform FAR across localities and reducing conversion charges.

The sealing drive was being carried out against business establishments using residential areas for commercial purposes without paying conversion charges.