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Updated May 17th, 2021 at 18:00 IST

Delhi HC reserves order on plea seeking stay on construction of Central Vista amid COVID

The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its order on the plea seeking direction to halt/suspend all construction activity of the Central Vista Project

Reported by: Pritesh Kamath
Central Vista Project
IMAGE: | Image:self
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The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its order on the plea seeking stay on the Central Vista Project. The bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh were hearing the arguments put forward by Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra seeking direction to halt/suspend all construction activity of the Central Vista Avenue Redevelopment Project in compliance with orders issued by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority over COVID-19.

The Centre had filed an affidavit ilast week detailing the arrangements that it had made for the construction and on-site stay of the workers keeping in mind the COVID-19 protocols. In the 32-page affidavit, the Centre had revealed that 400 workers were engaged at the site of the project well before the imposition of curfew on April 19 and were staying on-site. While the arrangements for the stay of the workers was being made at the site, necessary permissions were sought for transportation of materials and labour including permission for the movement of supervisory staff.

"No permission was sought, if they (Centre) have, why don't they share the documents and make complete disclosures," Luthra said on Monday against the Centre's affidavit claiming due permissions were sought.

"Central Vista should not be called as it is so, it shall now be said "Central Fortress of Death", Luthra said.

Advocate Luthra cited media reports and pictures to strengthen his submission that facilities given to construction workers are not adequate and COVID compliant amid the pandemic. He added that videography and photography have been prohibited in the construction area.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre said that the project is being undertaken in accordance with law and measures have been taken to check the health and wellbeing of individuals.

"There's no denying that Right to Health is part of fundamental rights, and the government has to ensure that Health, wellbeing and safety is protected. The question is, your Lordships are custodian of fundamental rights of everyone. Will stopping the project really help the workers?" Tushar Mehta questioned.


Leaders of 12 opposition parties on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a free mass vaccination campaign against COVID-19, and a suspension of the Central Vista project and divert the money to aid the fight against Coronavirus. The Supreme Court had refused to intervene and disposed of a plea seeking a stay on the construction work of the Central Vista project amid the COVID crisis in Delhi. The SC opined that as the matter was pending before the Delhi HC, the SC asked Advocate Luthra to ask the Delhi HC to take up the matter at its earliest.

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Published May 17th, 2021 at 18:00 IST

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