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The Appellate Tribunal of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), presided over by Additional District and Sessions Judge Abhilash Malhotra, has directed the MCD to reconsider a regularization application independently, ensuring it is not influenced by unauthorized constructions on other floors.
The judgment arose from a case where Mrs Gagandeep Kaur Bhasin and her family challenged MCD's rejection of their third-floor property's regularization in Chittaranjan Park. The MCD had refused to regularize the appellants' third-floor property on the grounds that non-compoundable deviations existed on the other floors, owned by other persons. However, during the proceedings, the MCD itself admitted in multiple status reports that no unauthorized deviations were found on the appellants' floor. Despite this, the MCD failed to take action against illegal constructions in the basement, ground, and first floors while using them as grounds to reject the appellants' regularization plea. The Tribunal strongly criticized the MCD for inaction and highlighted a "deliberate dereliction of duty" by its officials. It directed the Commissioner, MCD, to enquire into the conduct of the concerned officers who failed to act against unauthorized constructions while simultaneously denying regularization to a compliant property owner. The Tribunal cited judgments of the Delhi High Court while reaffirming that non-compoundable deviations in one part of a building cannot be used to deny regularization of another independently owned portion, provided it adheres to building norms. It was also noted that inaction on the part of the respondent Corporation to take appropriate action against other floors cannot deprive the Appellant's rights. The Tribunal remanded back the matter to the Quasi-Judicial Authority of MCD for fresh consideration. The Tribunal also urged the Commissioner to ensure that MCD's floorwise regularization guidelines align with statutory provisions under the Unified Building Bye-laws and the Master Plan of Delhi-2021. (ANI)
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