New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to respond over a petition pertaining to construction of new parliament and secretariat within 10 days. In the meanwhile, the apex court has decided to hear the petitioners' concern.
The apex court bench led by Justice AM Khanwilkar was hearing a plea filed by Rajiv Suri, which sought the land use for the central vista project, under which new buildings have to be constructed, to be examined first, and other issues raised by the petitioner.
In an earlier hearing, the court had said that it will examine the land use, municipal laws, environment clearances and other related issues. In case, the land use is found to be not in order, the project will be stopped and the other issues will not have to be examined.
Today, Rajiv Suri submitted before the apex court that DDA did not have the power to bring any change in the land use.
Explaining the legal aspect of the Centre's notification, Suri submitted that the buildings under the Central Vista project i.e parliament and secretariat are all heritage buildings.
The CPWD had submitted before the court initially that new Parliament and secretariat was needed to accommodate the increasing strength as the existing buildings were unsafe. It also had said that all the clearances required were in place for the project.
The revamp, which was announced in September last year, envisages a new triangular Parliament building, with seating capacity for 900 to 1,200 MPs, that is targeted to be constructed by August, 2022 when the country will be celebrating its 75th Independence Day.
The court had initially refused to put a stay on the project, which was sought by Suri.
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