Supreme Court stays construction work at Noida park

On Friday,a Special Bench led by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan made it clear that all construction activities at Rs 685-crore project should be stayed till further orders.

The Bench,also comprising Justices S H Kapadia and Aftab Alam,however,allowed the government to go ahead with other aspects of the project. “The authorities can continue with all other works of the project…,” it said in an interim order as it adjourned the matter till October 26.

The court refused to accept the plea of the UP government’s counsel that issuing directions for halting work should be deferred as about 75 per cent of work has already been completed. Senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi urged the Bench to adjourn the matter and grant time to reply to the Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee’s report. The CEC,in its report to the SC,had said the government should have sought environment clearance before beginning work,recommending a ban on further activity

The Special Bench said the matter could be adjourned only if advocates for the state and Noida authorities furnished an undertaking that construction work would be stopped for a week. Rohtagi,however,declined the offer.

When Rohtagi suggested that the court may issue demolition orders if at a later stage the construction was found to be illegal,the court shot back,“If we come to contra-conclusion what will happen,can we bring the clock back? Moreover,why should public money be allowed to be wasted?” It further observed,“Putting the clock back is difficult. Why can’t you wait for a week?”

The Bench made it clear it also wanted to know whether the building plans were approved by the authorities.

“For deciding this matter we require all these details and we need to hear all the parties,including the Ministry of Environment and Forests.”