NEW DELHI: Taking a serious view of incidents in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai in which many people were killed for living in unsafe and unauthorised buildings which were constructed without governments approval, the Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to consider framing a policy to sternly deal with illegal constructions across the country.

Referring to the recent incidents in Mumbai in which four people, including an elderly woman died, and 16 were injured in a fire that broke out at a high-rise apartment building in central Mumbai, a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said that people were allowed to live in the building by builders even the occupation certificate was not given by the authority. It also pointed out that in Ghaziabad and Greater Noida several persons lost their lives after unauthorised buildings collapsed.

“It is a very sad state of affairs. Three are thousands of such illegal building across the country which are not safe and people’s lives is in danger. We are monitoring the illegal construction in Delhi but what about the rest of the country. There was also fire in Kamla Mills (in December in which 14 people were killed). How long it will go on and how many people will lose their life. Is there any policy framed by Centre against unauthorised construction,” the bench said.

Additional solicitor general A N S Nadkarni, appearing for the Centre, told the bench housing comes with the state subject and it is for the state governments to frame policy and take action against illegal construction. He contended that the apex court should not confine its hearing only to unauthorised constructions in Delhi and the ambit of the petition be expanded to make it pan-India.

“There has to be something to curb such constructions and it cannot be allowed to go on and on. People are making the mockery of the rule of law and putting the life of people in danger,” the bench said.

The court, in the meantime, asked the Special Task Force which was set up to conduct sealing of unauthorised constructions to carry out its task and take action them. Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae , told the bench that DDA was implementing an amended master plan without getting approval from the Court and pleaded that civil bodies be restrained from enforcing the plan.

The court was about to stay the implementation of the plan but it refrains from passing the order after the ASG assured the bench that he would advice the Centre not to enforce the amended plan till August 28 when the bench will take up the case.

