SANJIV PRAKASH Vs. NEW DELHI MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This judgment will dispose of Civil Writ Nos. 156, 590, 670, 684, 763 to 777, 811 to 817, 820, 932 to 937 of 1980 filed by various allottees of shops in a Shopping Complex known as Palika Bazar.

(2.) The construction of Palika Bazar was taken in hand by the respondent- Committee some time in the year 1976. According to the learned counsel for the respondent initially it was envisaged that the shops which would be constructed in Palika Bazar, which market was to be fully airconditioned, would be allotted by inviting tenders from the public. Subsequently it appears that the policy of the respondent-Committee changed. It was decided that the shops in the said Shopping Complex should be allotted, by way of providing alternative accommodation, to the stall holders who had been carrying on their business since the year 1950. These stall holders were those who had put up stalls at the Panchkuin Road, Janpath and also to Tibetans who had put up their stalls at Janpath and in addition thereto it was also to accommodate some stall holders of Connaught Circus.

(3.) After the Complex was ready it appears that the Tibetan Market Association as well as the Janpath Traders Association objected to shifting to Palika Bazar. Ultimately, it is only the stall holders of Panchkuin Road who gave the concurrence for shifting to the newly constructed Shopping Complex. It was accordingly decided by the Committee that 98 shops should be reserved in the Shopping Complex for providing alternative accommodation to the stall holders of Panchkuin Road. It was further decided by the respondent-Committee that in the first phase 177 shops should be allotted by inviting tenders.