Date:27/10/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/10/27/stories/2006102713980400.htm

New Delhi

Delhi Government to write to Monitoring Committee

Staff Reporter

To seek relief for traders who had filed affidavits with Court

The race for taking credit for getting relief for the traders intensifies

Five lakh-odd traders had been granted relief till January 31 to file affidavits

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Cabinet on Thursday decided to write to the Bhure Lal-led Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee to seek relief for the 45,000-odd traders in the Capital who had filed affidavits with the Court promising to end commercial misuse of their residential areas before the deadline proposed by the Court.

With the race for taking credit for getting relief for the traders now intensifying, the Delhi Cabinet, which met under the leadership of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at her residence this morning, decided to ask State Principal Secretary (Urban Development) Vivek Singh to write a letter to the Monitoring Committee to seek relief for the traders who had filed affidavits according to the wishes of the Supreme Court.

It was felt that since these traders had abided by the decision of the apex court and thereby undertaken to let the rule of the law prevail these people should be given relief by the Committee. It is another matter that the Supreme Court during its last hearing had made it clear that all those who had filed affidavits should stop misuse of their premises or face sealing from November 1.

The Cabinet felt that with the Master Plan for Delhi-2021 lined up for finalisation and expected to go a long way in providing relief to the people of Delhi, it was imperative that those who had decided to go with the law should be given some kind of relief.

The Cabinet noted that the 5 lakh-odd traders who are covered by the September 7 and September 15 notifications, presently under judicial scrutiny, had been granted relief till January 31 to file affidavits so the same relief should be extended to the other sections also.

The Court had refused to grant any relief to this section despite a review petition filed by the Union Ministry of Urban Development.

The decision to write to the Monitoring Committee comes hot on the heels of the meeting of a Congress delegation led by DPCC president Ram Babu Sharma with Mr. Bhure Lal on Wednesday. Interestingly, the traders' delegation that had met the Monitoring Committee to seek relief was told categorically that the Monitoring Committee had no mandate to go beyond what been stated by the Supreme Court and if they had any further grievance they should approach the Court.