SC refuses to entertain plea for hearing on PIL for halting construction in Central Vista project

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea against deferment of hearing on a PIL seeking direction to halt construction activity at the Central Vista Avenue Redevelopment Project during the prevailing Covid19 pandemic but gave liberty to petitioners to approach the Delhi High Court for urgent listing of the matterThe apex court was hearing the appeal against the May 4 order of the high court which had listed the PIL for hearing on May 17 saying it wants to first go through what the Supreme Court has deliberated in its judgment of January 5 giving a go ahead to the ambitious projectThe apex court today asked senior advocate Siddharth Luthra to mention the matter before the High Court for urgent listing on May 10ldquoWe are of the opinion that since the matter is pending before the High Court and the order challenged in the special leave petition is only of adjournment we are not inclined to go into the merit of the caserdquo a bench of Justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheshari saidIt said that ldquoin given circumstances we request Mr Luthra to file the petition himself or through any other counsel to make a request before Delhi High Court on Monday May 10 to take up the matter as early as possiblerdquoIt noted the submission of the senior advocate that the matter involves extreme urgency and said that the High Court may consider the prayer and pass ordersAt the outset Luthra told the bench that the matter is of extreme importance as the country is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisisHe said they are only concerned with the challenge to the permission granted for continuation of construction which is going on at Rajpath Central Vista stretch and gardensldquoLabour is being transported from Sarai Kale Khan and Karol Bagh area to Raj Path and Central Vista where construction work is going on This enhances chances of spread of Covid19 infection among themrdquo Luthra saidHe referred to the letter written by Central Public Works Department CPWD to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA for continuation of construction work in Central Vista project on the ground that it is time bound workldquoThe permission was granted on the ground that it was essential activity How is construction work an essential activity In a health emergency we cannot risk the lives of workers and their families and put more pressure on health care systemrdquo Luthra said adding that peak of second wave of Covid19 is being anticipated by May 15 and High Court has listed the matter for May 17 which would not serve any purposeHe said that when the nation is considering lockdown and even Indian Premier League is being shut the construction activity cannot be allowedJustice Saran said ldquoWhen we are sitting in closed rooms with face masks itself shows the situation is grim We would not like to make any further comments on the Covid19 situation as other benches are seized of the matter otherwise our remarks may be misinterpretedrdquoThe top court disposed of the pleaThe High Court has deferred the hearing on a PIL which had sought direction to Centre to halt construction work at the Central project due to prevailing COVID situationPetitioners Anya Malhotra who works as a translator and Sohail Hashmi a historian and documentary filmmaker have claimed that the project has the potential to be a super spreader if allowed to continue during the pandemicThey have said before the High Court that the continuation of the project was a matter of concern in view of the crumbling healthcare system and the lives at stake of the workers employed at the construction siteThe project entails construction activity on Rajpath and the surrounding lawns from India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhawan the plea filed through advocates Gautam Khazanchi and Pradyuman Kaistha has saidThe project envisages constructing a new Parliament House a new residential complex that will house the Prime Minister and the VicePresident as well as several new office buildings and a Central Secretariat to accommodate Ministry officesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever