19 Feb 2012:
The Hindu : Cities / Delhi : Court questions construction of parking at Gurdwara Rakabganj
Court questions construction of parking at Gurdwara Rakabganj
The Delhi High Court has asked the New Delhi Municipal Council to explain how the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) is building a multi-level underground parking lot at a cost of Rs.400 crore inside Gurdwara Rakabganj in the New Delhi area without mandatory permissions as the shrine is a notified Grade III heritage building.
Justice Vipin Sanghi asked the NDMC to file a status report on the alleged construction of the parking facility without taking mandatory permissions from different government agencies concerned by March 22, the next date of hearing.
The Court asked for the explanation on a petition by the Sikh Forum for Service and Justice challenging construction of the parking facility.
The construction of parking lot is going since the laying of the foundation stone by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit last year.
The petitioner, G.S. Oberoi, president of the Forum, through his counsel Avtar Singh submitted in a fresh application that he had obtained information through RTI route that the DSGMC had sought no permission from the Heritage Conservation Committee to build the parking.
The petitioner further said that in a reply to a RTI application, the local body said that the Gurdwara Management had submitted a proposal to build the parking but it was rejected.
RTI APPLICATION
Even the Department of Forests and Wildlife, Tughlakabad, had not granted any permission to the Committee to fell any tree inside the shrine's premises for construction of the parking. The petitioner obtained this information through RTI application, counsel for the petitioner said.
The petitioner submitted that there was no requirement to build such a big parking facility at such a huge cost by the DSGMC as there was not much of utility of it for the devotees visiting the shrine.
The Forum is an association of individuals working for the welfare of the Sikh community.
Mr. Oberoi submitted that there were four important religious festivals in a year when a large number of devotees gathered there. Throughout the year, the attendance of devotees at the shrine was not so huge that it would require such a huge parking space.
He further submitted that the money that the Management Committee wanted to spend on the parking facility could be spent on giving finishing touches to the 400-bed under-construction Guru Harikishan Hospital at the Balasaheb Gurdwara at Ashram in South Delhi which was non-functional due to the neglect on the part of the Management Committee.
The petitioner also expressed his apprehension that the multi-level parking when built might also pose a threat to the nearby Parliament building.
The petitioner urged the Court to restrain the Committee from constructing the parking facility and direct the authorities concerned to take appropriate action against those who had allowed the construction in violation of the rules.
The Hindu : Cities / Delhi : Court questions construction of parking at Gurdwara Rakabganj
Court questions construction of parking at Gurdwara Rakabganj
The Delhi High Court has asked the New Delhi Municipal Council to explain how the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) is building a multi-level underground parking lot at a cost of Rs.400 crore inside Gurdwara Rakabganj in the New Delhi area without mandatory permissions as the shrine is a notified Grade III heritage building.
Justice Vipin Sanghi asked the NDMC to file a status report on the alleged construction of the parking facility without taking mandatory permissions from different government agencies concerned by March 22, the next date of hearing.
The Court asked for the explanation on a petition by the Sikh Forum for Service and Justice challenging construction of the parking facility.
The construction of parking lot is going since the laying of the foundation stone by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit last year.
The petitioner, G.S. Oberoi, president of the Forum, through his counsel Avtar Singh submitted in a fresh application that he had obtained information through RTI route that the DSGMC had sought no permission from the Heritage Conservation Committee to build the parking.
The petitioner further said that in a reply to a RTI application, the local body said that the Gurdwara Management had submitted a proposal to build the parking but it was rejected.
RTI APPLICATION
Even the Department of Forests and Wildlife, Tughlakabad, had not granted any permission to the Committee to fell any tree inside the shrine's premises for construction of the parking. The petitioner obtained this information through RTI application, counsel for the petitioner said.
The petitioner submitted that there was no requirement to build such a big parking facility at such a huge cost by the DSGMC as there was not much of utility of it for the devotees visiting the shrine.
The Forum is an association of individuals working for the welfare of the Sikh community.
Mr. Oberoi submitted that there were four important religious festivals in a year when a large number of devotees gathered there. Throughout the year, the attendance of devotees at the shrine was not so huge that it would require such a huge parking space.
He further submitted that the money that the Management Committee wanted to spend on the parking facility could be spent on giving finishing touches to the 400-bed under-construction Guru Harikishan Hospital at the Balasaheb Gurdwara at Ashram in South Delhi which was non-functional due to the neglect on the part of the Management Committee.
The petitioner also expressed his apprehension that the multi-level parking when built might also pose a threat to the nearby Parliament building.
The petitioner urged the Court to restrain the Committee from constructing the parking facility and direct the authorities concerned to take appropriate action against those who had allowed the construction in violation of the rules.