Supreme Court Keeps New Rajinder Nagar Premises Sealed, Affirms Ground-Floor-Only Commerce Under MPD-2021

Overview

• The bench of Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran dismissed the de-sealing plea in the long-running M.C. Mehta PIL on unauthorized constructions in Delhi.
• The Court refused to treat a December 18, 2023 judicial committee order as a blanket basis for relief, holding that it offered only general observations and created no automatic right to de-sealing.
• The lease and conveyance documents allowed commerce only on the ground floor, sanctioned plans from 2005 showed upper floors as residential, and the applicant produced no proof of historic commercial use upstairs.
• The MCD’s claims of merged plots, unauthorized construction, and excess FAR were noted, with the order distinguishing between compoundable and non-compoundable violations.
• The Court directed a fresh MCD inspection to specify removals and compute conversion and penalty charges, with de-sealing and any commercial use of upper floors permitted only after full compliance, reinforcing the civic body’s authority to levy such charges at similar LSC properties.