PLEA AGAINST HC ORDER REJECTING PIL TO HALT CENTRAL VISTA WORK DISMISSED BY SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea against the Delhi high court’s order which had dismissed a PIL seeking stay of construction of Central Vista Project during the pandemic and had also imposed a cost of Rs One lakh for filing motivated petition against the project. “Genuine PILs have done wonders, but questionable PILs have caused problems. PILs have their own sanctity,” the court said.

The Supreme Court agreed with the findings of the Delhi High Court after noting that the petitioner had selectively chosen Central Vista Project and did not even research about other public projects which were allowed during the lockdown.

The Supreme Court was hearing petitions by Anya Malhotra and Sohail Hashmi challenging the May 31 judgment of the Delhi High Court.

On 31 May the Delhi High Court had dismissed a plea seeking to halt construction work at Central Vista Avenue in the national capital given the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Delhi high court in its order said that “The Project in question is of vital importance and essential and has a direct nexus with the main project, namely, Central Vista Project.”

The Court stated that once the workers were staying at the site and all facilities had been provided and the Covid-19 protocols were being adhered to, there was no reason for it to exercise powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to stop the project.

The Court further observed that projects of national importance cannot be stopped especially when the conditions imposed by the order of the DDMA dated 19th April, are not flouted or violated.