DLF properties’ demolition: As SC directs Gurgaon authorities to maintain status quo, residents brace for legal battle

The top court was hearing petitions filed by various homeowners and the Qutab Enclave Residents Welfare Association (RWA) located in Sector 26A, DLF Phase 1. Represented by Senior Advocate Indira Jaising, along with advocates Anuj Saxena, Durgesh R Gupta and Paras Nath Singh, they challenged the sealing and demolition drive.

According to the enforcement wing of the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP), over 4,500 properties across various DLF phases have been flagged for flouting construction norms such as making additions to the property like more floors or allowing/constructing spaces for commercial rent/shops despite being a residential area.

As many as 2,100 faced imminent demolition or sealing that was to begin on Friday after the district administration had accepted District Town Planner (Enforcement) Amit Madholia’s recommendations.

A police spokesperson said the city police and the district administration were all set to take action, starting with constructions deemed illegal in DLF Phase 3, during the day.

The issue arose out of PILs filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court by the DLF City Residents Welfare Association and others in 2021 opposing the alleged large-scale unauthorised constructions in breach of zoning and building code laws.

In February this year, the drive was approved and ordered first by the High Court when it had also asked local courts to dispose of pending challenges to such action by authorities.

Madholia had on Wednesday stated that the Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon approved his department’s recommendation to seal and cut the utilities of the constructions in question.

The action is being taken under the Haryana Urban Development Act and the rules of the Town and Country Planning Department, Madholia added. Further, any uncalled interference with the sealing and demolition process will result in FIRs being filed, it was stated.

However, the petitioners before the top court contended that the drive and notices were unlawful as they could only have been issued by the city’s civic body, the Gurugram Municipal Corporation. They also stated that they were not heard by the high court before such prejudicial directions were passed.

Baljeet Singh Rathee, president of the Qutab Enclave RWA, welcomed the SC order. He pointed out that his association stood for those who had been living in the society for decades and were suddenly given notices without a proper hearing.

Gaurav Singla, a member of the RWA, lamented that the high court had not gone deeply into their woes. Asked about some clear instances of extra storeys in buildings, particularly on plots allocated for housing for the Economical Weaker Sections (EWS) as well as commercial establishments springing up in residential units, he said: “We are with them (Gurgaon authorities) on that and are against the EWS model where there are several illegal storeys.”

“However, you have to segregate them and cannot deem all of us legacy residents’ homes Illegal all at once and come to demolish them. We are against those making commercial and liquor shops on 60-yard plots. We are against the harassment of old residents,” he added.

The association is looking forward and preparing to explain this at length to the courts, Singla added, saying they were not properly afforded such an opportunity so far.