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The Supreme Court today refused to interfere with the Delhi High Court decision of refusing to stop the construction work at the CentralVista Redevelopment Project during Covid19 pandemic. 

Bench of Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Aniruddha Bose observed, “No interference in the SLP is required. The petitioners have not made enquiries about the other projects in the city. During the pendency it was written on record that the project was fully compliant. Despite that the petitioners pursued the Writ Petition.”

The Court further agreed with the Delhi High Court’s view that the petitioners had “selectively challenged one project without doing any honest research with regards to the other ongoing projects of similar nature in the city”.

“You are a PIL petitioner which is indicated in para 37 & you said that this is adding to the super spreader. Did you do an honest research as to how many projects were going on & were of the same nature? Every public project is in the public domain”, the court asked.

The bench was hearing an appeal challenging the Delhi High Court order dated May 31, 2021 passed by bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh in which the court while imposing a cost of Rs 1 lakh refused to stop construction work at the Central Vista Redevelopment Project during the pandemic. The court thereafter granted one month to deposit the amount with the Delhi Legal Services Authority.

Aggrieved by the observations made by the High Court, Anya Malhotra and Sohail Hashmi in their appeal said that, “The judgment, especially the imposition of exorbitant costs, has a chilling effect on public spirited individuals raising genuine issues of public health and on the right of citizens to question the actions of the government and to hold it to account, which it is submitted is the bedrock of democracy.”

“The impugned judgment apart from misconstruing the bonafide intention of the petitioners, without cause cast them in a negative light at the cost of their right to reputation.”, their appeal further stated. 

The petitioners had also contended that their only aim was to raise a public health and safety issue after coming to know that the construction work on the Central Vista Redevelopment Project site was going on at a time when the “catastrophic second wave” of Covid infections was ravaging Delhi. On May 3, when the petition was filed, the positivity rate in Delhi averaged at 29.74%, they said.

The Court also heard another plea filed by Advocate Pradeep Kumar Yadav which stated that the High Court has failed to appreciate the fact that there is an “imminent necessity of restraining construction activities” in the contended area.

Case Title: Pradeep Kumar Yadav Versus Union Of India And Ors. & Anya Malhotra And Anr. Versus Union Of India And Ors. | Diary No. 12918-2021