Rattled by the violence over the Delhi sealing drive which left four persons dead, the Government today suspended sealing operations until September 25 while a Group of Ministers, meeting within hours of being constituted after a Cabinet meet, decided not to confront the judiciary over the issue, at least for now.

The Government will file a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court tomorrow to legalise unauthorised commercial structures under the amended Delhi Master Plan.

The GoM will meet again on September 25 when the Supreme Court, which has taken a tough line against illegal structures, takes up hearing on the sealing of structures that do not conform to the Delhi Master Plan 2001.

The GoM — headed by Home Minister Shivraj Patil, it includes Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy (he was in Mumbai and was represented by deputy Ajay Maken), Law Minister H R Bhardwaj, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, Social Justice & Empowerment Minister Meira Kumar — decided to reach out to people through the Internet and to traders and affected shopkeepers.

The GoM did not discuss any special Parliament session to discuss any legislation to get past court orders.

Earlier, at the Cabinet meeting, the violence in Seelampur was discussed with Kamal Nath making the point that the Government needs to act quickly since police firing in Delhi sends out a very negative signal. Backing him were Sibal and Bhardwaj who favoured the more proactive approach of reaching out to the public and explaining the issue threadbare.

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