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Supreme Court clears way for Games Village

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed Delhi High Court orders stalling constructions in the upcoming Commonwealth Games Village on the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi for holding the games in 2010.

A Bench of Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Justice P. Sathasivam stayed the orders dated November 3 and all further proceedings relating to the constitution of a committee to go into the environmental aspects of the construction activities in the village. The Bench granted the interim stay till December 15 and posted the matter for further hearing on that day.

Appearing for the Delhi Development Authority, Solicitor-General G. E. Vahanvati submitted that the High Court had passed the orders eight months after reserving judgment, which would seriously jeopardise the very conduct and holding of the Commonwealth Games, for which a commitment had been made by the country to the Commonwealth Federation. He said the direction on setting up of a committee would virtually halt the constructions and cast a shadow on the games.

In its special leave petition, the DDA said the High Court directions seemed to suggest that the CWG was being constructed on a riverbed/floodplain.

It said when expert and scientific bodies had given a categorical finding that the site in question was not a riverbed or a floodplain, it was not permissible for the court to sit in judgment over the expertise of these scientific institutions and embark upon further enquiry.

On the direction to appoint a committee, the DDA said the fate of the Games Village could not be left to be decided by the committee which had no expertise in matters relating to classification of the site in question.

Further, all the environmental clearances which had been granted for the construction could not be subjected to the scrutiny of the committee.

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