Supreme Court laments Mumbai victims' plight, slams encroachments

Castigating the government for permitting encroachments in crowded market places like Khan Market and Sarojini Nagar, the Supreme Court today inferred that a congested atmosphere could poses serious security perils like the recent Mumbai serial blasts.

A special bench of Justices VS Sirpurkar and GS Singhvi regretted that incidents like the Mumbai blasts is being taken with a pinch of salt by the general public as the country as a whole has become insensitive to such incidents.

"We have seen the Mumbai blasts in which so many people were killed. But hardly 24 hours after the incident, people have forgotten about it. Let alone the people of India, even those in Mumbai have forgotten it. If somebody still remembers, it must be the surviving victims and their family," the bench said.

The apex court made the remarks while dealing with an application made by a commercial firm challenging the decision of MCD to seal their alleged unauthorised premise in crowded Sarojini Nagar area.

Refusing to interfere with the decision, the apex court said "the entire market is crowded and encroached. Does the general public have any space to walk? This seems to be the general situation in the country".

The apex court regretted that its orders for removing encroachments are seldom complied with.

"We know to what extent our orders are complied with. The moment we pass some order, the Lt Governor goes to the spot or the Chief Minister is there......." the bench said.

At this stage, senior counsel Ranjit Kumar, appearing as amicus curiae in the matter, complained about large-scale encroachment in Khan Market area and cautioned it may cause a disaster soon on the lines of the Uphaar cinema tragedy.

"It is a nightmare to walk on the streets these days. Human avarice knows no bounds," the bench remarked.