FRESH TWIST TO ROW OVER HANUMAN IDOL
New Delhi, Feb. 6: In a fresh twist to the row over a 108- ft- tall Hanuman statue allegedly built on encroached land here, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Tuesday resiled from its stand that the land belonged to it and instead told the Delhi high court that area is under New Delhi Municipal Council ( NDMC).
The development comes after the Corporation was asked by the court to give a list of its officials who were posted in the area when the statue was being constructed illegally on public land, including a pavement, in the busy Karol Bagh area here, and into which the high court has ordered a CBI probe.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar said it was not accepting the submission by the North Delhi municipal corporation ( North MCD), but was making the Council a party as its presence was essential to the proceedings.
The corporation’s stand came as a surprise as during several hearing in the matter in the past it had responded to the queries of the court on the issue and had not denied jurisdiction over the area.
The court asked the NDMC to place before it the records pertaining to ownership of the land in question, grant of power and water connection, date of sanction of these amenities and building plan and action taken, if any, by the Council against the construction.
The civic body was also ordered to give within a week a list of its officials posted in the area and to fully assist the probe by the CBI which was asked to carry out a fair and expeditious investigation.
The head of the trust running the temple at the site has been directed to place on record the documents indicating ownership of the land.