The bench stated that the list of names sought were incomplete and unacceptable, thereby ordering to give the list by December, fixing it as the next date of hearing
Showing displeasure on the allegedly illegally built 108-ft high Hanuman idol in Karol Bagh area yet again, the Delhi High court said on Friday that it will ask the CBI to investigate the construction of the statue and prosecute officials of DDA and municipal corporation during whose tenure it was constructed.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said that while it cannot go after individual unauthorised buildings, builders, or the "hapless people" who are buying them, "the time has come" to ensure that the authorities comply with the laws.
"We propose to send it (the case) to the CBI," the court said and asked the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the municipal corporation of the area to give the names of its officials who have been posted in the area since 1995, when the construction of the colossal statue started.
The bench stated that the list of names sought were incomplete and unacceptable, thereby ordering to give the list by December, fixing it as the next date of hearing.
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) filed an affidavit stating that it has taken action to remove some of the encroachments around the statue and commercial activity outside the temple has been stopped. But the court did not seem to be satisfied and said that the NDMC has withheld vital information about when the road and pavement adjacent to the statue came under its jurisdiction.
During the proceedings, Delhi police informed the court that it was interrogating the trustees running the temple and was also looking into its source of funding. It was stated that the temple has an account, containing Rs 11 lakh, in a UCO Bank branch at Model Basti area along with a fixed deposit of Rs 40 lakh.
They also added that these cannot be the only funds of the trust, whose sole source of earning is the temple which has been running from 1978. The statue, however, was built completely only in 2002.
Appearing for the Delhi police, its counsel Satyakam said that the general manager of the UCO Bank was seeking 30-60 days to provide information about who all deposited cheques in the trust's account.
The bench, thereafter, directed the general manager of the bank to provide the information sought by the police at the earliest and not later than two weeks. The DDA and the corporation told the court that neither the temple nor the trust was paying any property tax to them.
The court had ordered a police probe after a committee appointed by it in May this year to look into illegal constructions all over Delhi had pointed to encroachments of up to 1,170 square yards on the DDA land which forms part of the Southern Ridge.
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