NEW DELHI: Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi, on Tuesday, said that she had written a letter to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi Commissioner Gyan Bharti, asking him to start the process of de-sealing shops that have been shut since 2017. The shops were originally sealed over alleged land-use violations. A resolution was passed by the MCD House on January 17, saying that the de-sealing of shops must be carried out on January 19. This followed another such resolution in December. Furthermore, a Supreme Court panel had passed an order on the same last year, calling for the conditional de-sealing of the Delhi shops, stating that the MCD cannot collect conversion charges on sealed shops.  

However, at a press conference, Delhi Mayor Oberoi said that the de-sealing process remains in limbo due to the MCD Commissioner rejecting the resolution passed by the MCD House. 

“The livelihood of thousands of traders and shop owners has been impacted because of the sealing action. The MCD House passed a resolution to de-seal these shops to give relief to these traders but it was rejected by the commissioner,” said Oberoi. 

Oberoi's statement noted that apart from the House itself, no one has the power to reject resolutions passed by the MCD House. 

According to a report by PTI, the BJP has asked the Delhi Mayor to either start the de-sealing process or initiate punitive action against the Commissioner. In a statement, the BJP reportedly said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is trying to avoid the de-sealing process as it does not want to refund the amount charged by the MCD from traders for the alleged land use violations. 

With inputs from PTI.