Case Name: Purnima Singh vs. Delhi Development Authority & Ors.
Case Number: W.P.(C) 2389/2013
Date of Judgment: November 22,2024
Quorum of the Case: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dharmesh Sharma.
Facts of the Case:
Petitioner Purnima Singh is a resident of Sheikh Sarai Phase-I, New Delhi and has filed the instant writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India challenging the allotment of a portion of Tikona Park, a public park, to GurdwaraaRespondent No. 4, being a Gurdwara management society, for the construction of a Gurdwara. This was on the basis of the notion that the allotment was arbitrary, violative of Article 21 of the Constitution of the petitioner, and in breach of certain provisions of the Delhi Development Act, 1957. The DDA, being the respondent herein, justified the allotment by stating that this area was not developed and not, according to the Master Plan or ZDP, declared as a green belt.
ISSUES OF THE CASE:
1.Whether the allotment of land in Tikona Park to construct a Gurudwara is in violation of the Master Plan for Delhi and the Zonal Development Plan?
- Whether the due process of law followed by the DDA while modifying the layout plan and allotting the land?
- Whether the petitioner has a locus standi to question the allotment?
- Whether it violates the provisions of Delhi Development Act, 1957?
LEGAL PROVISIONS:
- Article 226 of the Constitution of India – grants writ jurisdiction to the High Court.
- Article 21 of the Constitution of India – Right to life and personal liberty.
- Delhi Development Act, 1957
Section 7: Civic Survey and master plan for Delhi.
Zonal Planning for Development Section 8.
Section 11-A: Amendment of master and zonal plan.
- Master Plan for Delhi (MPD-2021) – Guidelines for Urban development.
ARGUMENTS :
Appellant (Purnima Singh):
The petitioner pleads that it was arbitrary, illegal, and it had violated her rights under Article 21 of the Constitution in allowing a part of Tikona Park to be constructed as a Gurdwara. The place was ordained as a green belt in the Master Plan for Delhi (MPD) and the Zonal Development Plan (ZDP) meant for public recreation. She has stated that the concrete structure destroyed public space and has also upset the ecology in that place. She further alleges that the Delhi Development Authority had misled her as it deliberately provided false information under the Right to Information Act claiming that no applications had been filed for the construction.
The petitioner stressed that the allotment went against public interest and was in violation of the provisions of the Delhi Development Act, 1957. She asked that the park be restored along with the removal of encroachments to preserve the area for community use.
Respondents (DDA and Gurudwara Management Society):
The respondents answered that the land was neither designated as a green belt nor constituting the recreational area under the MPD or ZDP. They further explained that the said area is, in fact, an undeveloped dumping ground, not a public and functional park. The DDA justified the allotment stating that it was in accordance with due process. This included the Vice Chairman’s approval of the modified layout plan in 2010, as approved, conforming to guidelines laid down in MPD-2021 and ZDP. It further averred that the allotment served the religious needs of some 600 Sikh families residing in the area. Thus, the allotment satisfied public interest.
The respondents argued that no trees were cut and that the remaining portion of Tikona Park was well-maintained. Their locus standi was also questioned, for she lived nearly a kilometer away and claimed no personal stakes in the matter.
JUDGEMENT:
Delhi High Court, by its order dated November 22, 2024, has dismissed the writ petition filed by Purnima Singh against DDA wherein she had challenged allotment of a portion of Tikona Park for construction of a Gurdwara. In doing so, the court held that the allotment made was valid as it was supported by MPD-2021 and the Zonal Development Plan (ZDP) of DDA and had been made in the process. It was noted that the subject area was not declared as a green belt and used to be an undeveloped dumping ground. The allotment already exists, which was sanctioned by the Screening Committee of DDA in the year 2010 and approved in the year 2012 for meeting the religious needs of the Sikh community living in the surrounding areas without impacting open recreational space. The court held that policy decisions, such as allotments of land, cannot be interfered with unless arbitrary, perverse, or against public interest. Another issue on locus standi had arisen in this case because the petitioner was almost a kilometer away and failed to show grave harm caused by the construction. The court came to the conclusion that there was no allotment that fell within the provisions of law; all claims submitted through the petition deserved no merit; hence, it dismissed the writ petition along with any applications.
ANALYSIS:
The Court strictly analyzed all the submissions and found nothing which would indicate that the area allocated was marked as a green belt in the MPD or ZDP. It pointed out that allotment was made strictly according to due process post-screening by the Screening Committee of DDA and public hearings, too. The claims made by the petitioner relating to misleading responses received under RTI were held irrelevant to the question of legal validity of allotment.
Highlighting that amendments to layout plans need not be attended by more rigorous processes of Section 11-A of the Delhi Development Act, if such amendments conform to the MPD and ZDP.
CONCLUSION:
The writ petition was dismissed and the allotment of land was declared lawful as well as in public interest.
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WRITTEN BY RICHA PANDEY
