SC nixes plea against Delhi HC order refusing to halt Central Vista project

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down a plea seeking the intervention in the Delhi High Court order refusing to stop the construction work of the Central Vista Project at India Gate.

A three-judge bench presided over by Justice A M Khanwilkar affirming the high court's position, said that the petitioners had singled out one project, and had not properly researched the impact of other such public projects.

On May 31, while rejecting the plea to halt the project, the High Court had also asked the petitioners to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh and now the Apex Court made it clear it won't interfere with the decision.

"We record that the findings of the High Court are possible views. No interference is called for with the HC order," the bench asserted.

Petitioners --Anya Malhotra, a translator, and Sohail Hashmi, a historian-- knocked on the doors of the top court after the Delhi High Court refused to put a stay on the Central Vista redevelopment project.

Terming as a motivated petition and not a genuine petition, the plea has been dismissed and the HC bench said that the Central Vista was a "vital, essential national project."

Moreover, the government had ensured that the workers were "staying on-site" and complying with the Covid-19 appropriate behaviour, the court said.

"As the workers are staying on-site, no question of suspending the construction work arises in light of Covid-19," the bench said.

The plea contended that the construction of the project has a "super spreading potential and threat" to the workers who are being exposed to the infection daily while working and that too without payment.

The construction work for the Rs 20,000 crore project in the heart of the capital's power corridors has been brought under the ambit of "essential services", a move that has angered the opposition.

The opposition and activists have hit out hard at the government for continuing with work on the project in the middle of the pandemic.

The plan also recently received an environmental clearance which paves way for a new home for the Prime Minister to be built by December 2022. (UNI)