New Delhi, April 19 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice on a contempt plea against the construction of a permanent structure, a Tehbazari kiosk on the pavement along the wall of Ajmal Khan Park in the Karol Bagh area of the city.
The Division Bench of Justice Mukta Gupta and Justice Neena Krishna Bansal was hearing the contempt petition moved by Adv Amit Sahni, in which the petitioner stated that the kiosk would cause hindrance to the free flow of pedestrian movement in utter violation of the order passed by the court in 2018.
Issuing notice to the commissioner, Dy Commissioner, Addl Dy Commissioner, and Zonal Superintendent in the matter, the court observed that such kind of encroachment cannot be permitted and restrained further construction carried out in the area.
As per the petitioner Adv Sahni, he had issued a legal notice earlier and after that, the authorities had put on hold the construction of kiosks for some time, however, they have now permitted construction on the pavements in violation of the earlier order.
The plea said that in pursuance of a tender, the authorities had on November 26, 2021, issued instructions for shifting the covered tehbaaris (vendors) from Bhagwati Marg around Bank Street Parking to the wall of Ajmal Khan at Ajmal Khan Road, that is — the respondents/contemnors had directed to construct the booths/ kiosks over the pavement.
The high court, in its March 2018 order, had said “at the moment most of the pavements appear to have completely encroached. An appropriate enforcement action to ensure that minimum pedestrian use is available at any given point of time and at all times shall also be ensured. Likewise, monitoring is directed on a day-to-day basis”. (IANS)