Panicky Delhi Govt rushes to SC over riots, gets thumbs down

Panicky Delhi Govt rushes to SC over riots, gets thumbs down
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Nov 21: Panicking over the way life in the national capital came to a grinding halt on Monday on the issue of closure of industries, the Delhi Government today rushed to the Supreme Court for permission to go slow on implementing court orders but got a sound rebuff in return.

Quoting intelligence reports, the Government in its application said the situation was likely to escalate and with the rioters "planning to rush to the Supreme Court and Parliament the situation may get worse".

"The Court will not withdraw orders if hooligans take to the street," was the stern reply of a three-judge Bench headed by Justice B N Kirpal, which had issued contempt notice to the Delhi Chief Secretary on November 14 for not complying with repeated orders for closure of industries in residential and non-conforming areas since 1996.

"You have hooligans holding the city to ransom. The situation in the city is such that anybody can take to the street and hold the city to ransom," the Bench comprising Justice Kirpal, Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice Brijesh Kumar said.

Appearing for the Government, senior advocate K K Venugopal said the administration might be in the wrong to bring the situation to such a state but in the given circumstances it should be allowed to go slow on the closure of the industry as more loss of lives were feared.

The apex court had asked the Chief Secretary to show cause personally before the court on November 28 as to why he be not punished for not obeying the orders of the court passed since 1996.

When Venugopal, citing intelligence reports and mob violence yesterday in which one person died and 15 buses were set afire, repeatedly requested the court to allow the administration to go slow on the issue, the Bench said "Do whatever you like. We will hear the matter on November 28.

"We have only asked the Chief Secretary to show cause for contempt for not obeying orders of the court since 1996. Let cause be shown, we will see," the Bench said.

Venugopal said there were two million people, who fearing loss of livelihood from closure of the industries, have taken to the street and pleaded that it was a matter falling under Article 21 which guarantees right to life.

The court said "We had passed the orders on the basis that health of people is more important than the livelihood" and asked "is health not part of Article 21?"

The Bench said the court had in 1995 directed the Government not to issue any new licence to the industries in the residential or non-conforming areas and wanted to know how many were issued in violation of the court orders.

Venugopal said around 15,000 licences were issued but did not commit on it when the court asked him to put this on affidavit.

The Bench said "You created the situation as you deliberately disobeyed court orders and issued licences. All that we tell you to do was to implement the law."

Earlier, police resorted to teargas in several places across the capital as industrial owners and workers protesting against sealing of their units in residential areas hit the streets for the third consecutive day today.

The agitationists blocked traffic in Seelampur in northeast Delhi, Prahladpur in northwest, Mundka and Dabri in south west and Gandhi Nagar in east Delhi resulting in massive traffic jam, Police Commissioner Ajai Raj Sharma told PTI.

Meanwhile, Ajab Singh, a carpenter from Uttar Pradesh, who was seriously injured in yesterday's police firing in Welcome area of northeast Delhi, died late last night, Sharma said.

The condition of the remaining four, who were injured in the firing and are under treatment at the GTB hospital, is out of danger, he said.

``No large scale violence has been reported so far'', Sharma said, adding that the closure of polluting units consequent to the Supreme Court order was being carried out.

There were reports of mobs resorting to stone pelting insome places.

"The officers are restricting themselves to the closure of only polluting units and we are providing them with full protection," Sharma said.

Besides 40 companies of Delhi Armed Police, four companies of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) have been deployed in northeast and northwest Delhi and two more companies would be provided later in the day, the police chief said.

Conceding "softness" on the part of police yesterday, Sharma warned the rioters that police would take "very harsh steps" if they resorted to violence.