NEW DELHI, Feb 13: A shocked Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the Aam Aadmi Party over the alleged “encroachment” of land allocated to the High Court to construct its party office.
While expressing displeasure, the Supreme Court asked the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal-led party about its office at Rouse Avenue that was allegedly built over the land originally given to the Delhi High Court. “How can a political party’s office be on the land allotted to the Delhi High Court?” the apex court asked.
During the hearing, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said, “No one can take law into their own hands. How can a political party sit tight on that? Unencumbered possession must be given to the High Court. What will the High Court use it for? Only for the public and citizens. Why was the land then allotted to the High Court?
A miffed Chief Justice of India warned the lawyer appearing for the AAP-led Delhi government that land should be returned to the High Court. The Supreme Court said a meeting should be held with the Chief Secretary of the Delhi Government, Public Works Department Secretary and Finance Secretary with the Registrar General of the High Court to resolve the matter.
The meeting is to be held before Monday, the next date of hearing in the matter. Amicus Curiae K Parameshwar informed the bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that even though Delhi High Court officials went to take possession of the land allotted to them, “a political party office was built there” and they could not take the land back.
The court took note of the issue while dealing with a case related to judicial infrastructure across the country. The land has been with the AAP since 2016, Bharat Parashar, Law Secretary to the Delhi Government informed the court.
In a previous hearing, the top court had criticised the Delhi government for its indifferent attitude towards providing funds for infrastructure in the Delhi district judiciary. At that time, the Chief Justice of India had said approval had been granted for three of the four projects by March 2021. However, funds were yet to be released for these projects.
(Manas Dasgupta)
