Date:27/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/27/stories/2006052723550300.htm

New Delhi

Court notices on winding up of DDA

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notices to the Union Government and others on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking winding up of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on the ground that it had becoming unconstitutional and infructuous after the 74th Constitutional Amendment which empowers panchayats and municipal bodies to frame building bylaws and development plans.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Vijender Jain and Justice S.N. Aggarwal asked the Centre and the other respondents to file a reply to the PIL by October 7.

The petitioner, Society for Safe Structures, a non-government organisation, submitted that DDA had been framing building bylaws and preparing development plans since 1959, but now the twin tasks should be transferred to the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) as per the Amendment.

The petitioner further stated that the Authority had become infructuous and its continuation was violative of the Constitutional Amendment.