Sunil Kumar v. District Magistrate & ORS.

$~41 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 9841/2023 & CM APPL. 37842/2023 SUNIL KUMAR .....Petitioner Through:

Mr. Ravinder Mehandru, Advocate.

versus DISTRICT MAGISTRATE & ORS.

.....Respondents Through:

Mr.

Mukesh Gupta, Standing Counsel.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV

O R D E R

% 12.01.2026 1.

Let the petitioner to approach the Special Task Force (STF) which has been constituted pursuant to the Supreme Court directions. While dealing with the issue of rampant unauthorised construction and encroachment in various areas, the Supreme Court vide order dated 24.04.2018 in W.P. (C) 4677/1985 titled as M.C. Mehta v. Union of India had recorded following significant observations with respect to the constitution of STF:- "In view of this situation, we direct that there should not be any further construction in unauthorized colonies including on public land beyond the existing building and other bye-laws. Consequently, all building and construction activity in the unauthorized colonies including on public land is stopped with immediate effect beyond the existing building and other bye- laws applicable to authorized colonies.

The concerned authorities will ensure compliance. It has been submitted by learned Additional Solicitor General (Mr. Nadkarni) that a Task Force is contemplated that will ensure that the orders of this Court and the applicable byelaws are implemented and encroachments, etc. as well as unauthorized constructions are removed.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 15/01/2026 at 13:41:21

The Task Force as suggested by learned Additional Solicitor General (Mr. Nadkarni) may be constituted with immediate effect. As a first step, the Task Force should remove encroachments on public roads, public streets and pedestrian streets, as mentioned in the immediate action submitted by Mr. Nadkarni in a Revised Note dated 18th April, 2018. The needful should be done within a period of two weeks from today.

We make it clear that the Monitoring Committee may suggest to the Task Force the areas where immediate action is required to be taken.

It is stated by learned Additional Solicitor General (Mr. Maninder Singh) that about 27.02 acres of public land has been taken over by the Delhi Development Authority since 1st April, 2018. The details of this have not been mentioned. An affidavit should be filed giving full details of the 27.02 acres of public land that has been taken over by the Delhi Development Authority from unauthorized encroachments."

2.

On doing so, let the grievance of the petitioner be taken to its logical end with due expedition.

3.

With the aforesaid observation, the instant petition stands disposed of. Pending application also stands disposed of.

PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV, J JANUARY 12, 2026 tr/mj The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 15/01/2026 at 13:41:21