Removal of. encroachments S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 4677/1985 M.C.MEHTA Petitioner(s) VERSUS UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s) (MATTER IS LISTED ONLY FOR DIRECTIONS ONLY NAMES OF FOLLOWING ADVOCATES MAY BE TREATED TO HAVE BEEN SHOWN IN THE LIST :MR. S GURU KRISHNA KUMAR, SR. ADVOCATE (A.C.) MS. ANITHA SHENOY, SR. ADVOCATE (A.C.)MR. A.D.N. RAO, SR. ADVOCATE (A.C.)PETITIONER-IN-PERSON MR. G.S. MAKKER,MR. AMRISH KUMAR,MR. PRAVEEN SWARUP, MR. NISHIT AGRAWAL,MR. CHIRAG M. SHROFF, ADVOCATES ) Date : 30-09-2022 This petition was called on for hearing today. CORAM : HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KISHAN KAUL HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ABHAY S. OKA Mr. S. Guru Krishna Kumar, Sr. Adv. (A.C.) Mr. A.D.N. Rao, Sr. Adv. (A.C.) Ms. Aarti
ITEM NO.42 COURT NO.3 SECTION PIL-W
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 4677/1985 M.C.MEHTA Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s)
(MATTER IS LISTED ONLY FOR DIRECTIONS ONLY NAMES OF FOLLOWING
ADVOCATES MAY BE TREATED TO HAVE BEEN SHOWN IN THE LIST :MR. S GURU
KRISHNA KUMAR, SR. ADVOCATE (A.C.) MS. ANITHA SHENOY, SR. ADVOCATE (A.C.)MR. A.D.N. RAO, SR. ADVOCATE (A.C.)PETITIONER-IN-PERSON MR. G.S. MAKKER,MR. AMRISH KUMAR,MR. PRAVEEN SWARUP, MR. NISHIT
AGRAWAL,MR. CHIRAG M. SHROFF, ADVOCATES )
Date : 30-09-2022 This petition was called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KISHAN KAUL
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ABHAY S. OKA
Mr. S. Guru Krishna Kumar, Sr. Adv. (A.C.)
Mr. A.D.N. Rao, Sr. Adv. (A.C.) Ms. Aarti Krupa Kumar, Adv.
Ms. Anitha Shenoy, Sr. Adv. (A.C.) Ms. Aarthi Krupa Kumar, Adv.
Ms. Ayushma Awasti, Adv.
Ms. Namrata Sarah Caleb, Adv.
For Petitioner(s) Petitioner-in-person
For Respondent(s) Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, Ld.ASG Ms. Suhasini Sen, Adv.
Mr. Rajesh K Singh, Adv.
Mr. Rajat Nair, Adv.
Mr. S.S. Rabello, Adv.
Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, Adv.
Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv.
Ms. Sakshi Singh, Adv.
Ms. Kirti Khangarot, Adv.
Ms. Shagun Thakur, Adv.
Mr. G.S. Makker, AOR
Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR
Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR
Mr. Sanjiv Sen, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Praveen Swarup, AOR
Mr. K.P. Singh, Adv.
Mr. Mini Gangadhar, Adv.
Mr. Hari Sahteshwar, Adv.
Ms. Payal Swarup, Adv.
Mr. Chandra Pratap Singh, Adv.
Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR
Ms. Garima Prashad, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Nishit Agrawal, AOR Ms. Kanishka Mittal, Adv.
Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR
Mr. Anuj Tyagi, AOR
Mr. Surya Kant, AOR
Mr. Himanshu Shekhar, AOR
Mr. Devanshu Kumar Devesh, AOR
Ms. Rooh-e-Hina Dua, AOR
Ms. Prerna Mehta, AOR
Ms. Udita Singh, AOR
Mr. Shishir Pinaki, AOR
Mr. Firdouse Qutb Wanim AOR Mr..Zaryab J Rizvi, Adv.
Mr. Shadaan Qadri, Adv.
Ms. Deeplaxmi S. Matwankar AOR
Mr. Rajiv Mangla, AOR
Ms. Rajni Ohri Lal, AOR
Mr. Rajesh Kumar Chaurasia, AOR
Mr. Abinash Kr. Mishra, AOR
Ms. Smita Maan, AOR
Mr. Shardul S. Shroff, AOR
For M/s M.V. Kini and Associates
Ms. Pratibha Jain, AOR
Mr. Vivek Narayan Sharma, AOR.
Mr. Hardeep Singh Anand, AOR Ms. Vanita Bhargava, AOR.
Mr. R.A. Thonpinao Thangal, Adv.
Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR
Dr. Surender Singh Hooda, AOR
M/S. Parekh & Co., AOR
Mr. Sunil Kumar Jain, AOR
Mr. Venkateswara Rao Anumolu, AOR
Mr. Satyendra Kumar, AOR
Mr. P. Parmeswaran, AOR
Mr. Neeraj Kumar Gupta, AOR
Mr. Prashant Chaudhary, AOR
Mr. Suresh Chandra Tripathy, AOR
Mr. Devendra Singh, AOR
Mr. Avinash Kr. Lakhanpal, AOR
Mrs. Amita Gupta, AOR
Ms. Ruby Singh Ahuja, AOR
Ms. Binu Tamta, AOR
Mr. T.L. Garg, AOR
Mr. Nikilesh Ramachandran, AOR
Mr. Abhijit Sengupta, AOR
Mr. Avijit Bhattacharjee, AOR
Mr. Ashwani Kumar, AOR
Mr. Ravi Kumar Tomar, AOR
Mr. Tarun Johri, AOR
Mrs. Anil Katiyar, AOR
Mr. Yashraj Singh Deora, AOR
Mr. Gunnam Venkateswara Rao, AOR
Mr. Sanjay Kapur, AOR
Ms. Manju Jetley, AOR
Mr. Sudhir Naagar, AOR
Mr. Harish Pandey, AOR Mr. Manish Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Anshuman Tiwari, Adv.
Ms. Shweta Rajput, Adv.
Ms. Varsha Rana, Adv.
Ms. Shweta Rajput, Adv.
Mr. Manjit Singh Gill, Adv.
Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Akhileshwar Jha, Adv.
Ms. Pooja Chopra, Adv.
Ms. Sawati Singh Gill, Adv.
Mr. Sanjay S Kalara, Adv.
For Mr. Kuldip Singh, AOR
Mr. A. Venayagam Balan, AOR
Mr. Shiv Prakash Pandey, AOR
Mr. Satish Aggarwal, AOR
Mrs. Rekha Pandey, AOR
Mr. Shekhar Kumar, AOR
Mrs. Rachana Joshi Issar, AOR
Mr. Ajit Sharma, AOR
Mr. Senthil Jagadeesan, AOR
Mr. V. K. Verma, AOR
Mr. Md. Farman, AOR
Ms. Anu Gupta, AOR
Mr. Tejaswi Kumar Pradhan, AOR
Mr. Pravir Choudhary, AOR
Mr. B. V. Balaram Das, AOR
Ms. Uttara Babbar, AOR
Mr. Pranaya Kumar Mohapatra, AOR
Ms. Sharmila Upadhyay, AOR
Mr. Abhay Kumar, AOR
Ms. Rukhsana Choudhury, AOR
Mr. Harsh V. Surana, AOR
Mr. Raj Kamal, AOR
Mr. Himinder Lal, AOR
Ms. K. V. Bharathi Upadhyaya, AOR
Mr. Haresh Raichura, AOR
Mr. Arvind Gupta, AOR
Mr. Ambhoj Kumar Sinha, AOR
Mr. Ajay Kumar Singh, AOR
Ms. Neha Sharma, AOR
Mr. Gagan Gupta, AOR
Dr. Manish Singhvi, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Arpit Parkash Adv.
Mr. Vikalp Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Milind Kumar, AOR
Mr. Shyam D Nandan, AOR
Ms. Anuradha Mutatkar, AOR
Ms. Kaveeta Wadia, AOR
Mr. R.C. Kohli, AOR
Mr. Bimlesh Kumar Singh, AOR
Mr. Jasmeet Singh, AOR
Mr. Prithu Garg, AOR
Ms. Mayuri Raghuvanshi, AOR
Mr. Gaurav Sharma, AOR
Mr. Manoj K. Mishra, AOR Mr. Umesh Dubey, Adv.
Mr. Lav Mishra, Adv.
Ms. Kiran Pandey, Adv.
Mr. Onkar Singh, Adv.
Mr. Sudhi S Rawat, adv.
Mr. Harish Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Yoginder Handoo, AOR
Mr. D S Mehra, AOR
Mr. T. Mahipal, AOR
Mrs. Gargi Khanna, AOR
Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR
M/S. Karanjawala & Co., AOR
Ms. Akriti Chaubey , AOR
Mr. Ajay Pal, AOR
Ms. Rakhi Ray, AOR
Mr. Prakash Ranjan Nayak, AOR
Mr. Shantanu Krishna, AOR
Mr. Arvind S. Avhad, AOR
Mr. K.V. Mohan, AOR
Mr. Rahul Narayan, AOR
Ms. B. Vijayalakshmi Menon, AOR
Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, AOR
Mr. Alok Gupta, AOR
Mr. Chanchal Kumar Ganguli, AOR
Ms. Shagun Matta, AOR
Mr. Shekhar Prit Jha, AOR
M/S. Unuc Legal Llp, AOR
Ms. Shobha Gupta, AOR
Mr. Rajat Joseph, AOR
for M/s. Khaitan & Co, AOR
Mr. Ravinder Kumar Yadav, AOR
Mr. Amarjit Singh Bedi, AOR
Mr. Dinesh Chandra Pandey, AOR
Mr. T.V. George, AOR
Mr. Umang Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. Anil Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Kamal Mohan Gupta, AOR
Mr. Smarhar Singh, AOR
Mr. Anand Mishra, AOR
Mr. Ramesh Kumar Mishra, AOR
Mr. Mritunjay Kumar Sinha, AOR
Mr. Devashish Bharuka, AOR
Mr. Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, AOR
Mr. Krishnanand Pandeya, AOR
Mr. Saurabh Mishra, AOR Mr. Aditya Mishra, Adv.
Ms. Priya Kaushik, Adv.
Mr. Ashok Anand, AOR
Mr. Rajivkumar, AOR
Mr. Shekhar G Devasa, Adv.
Mr. Manish Tiwari, Adv.
Ms. Thashmitha Muthannna Adv.
Mr. Prashanth Dixit, Adv.
Mr. Shashi Bhushan Nagar, Adv. For M/S. Devasa & Co., AOR
Mr. Karunakar Mahalik, AOR
Dr. Monika Gusain, AOR
Mr. M.C. Dhingra, AOR
Mr. Gaurav Dhingra, Adv.
Mr. Vikrant Yadav, Adv.
Ms. Madhavi Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Raghvendra Shukla, Adv.
Ms. S. Janani, AOR
Mr. Somnath Mukherjee, AOR
Mr. M.M. Kashyap, AOR
Mr. A. Raghunath, AOR
Mr. Ejaz Maqbool, AOR
M/S. Mitter & Mitter Co., AOR
Mr. Vishnu Sharma, AOR
Mr. Binay Kumar Das, AOR
Mr. Arjun Garg, AOR Mr. Rakesh Mishra, AOR
Mr. Dinesh K. Garg, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Garg, Adv.
Mr. Dhananjay Garg, AOR Mr. Ishaan Tiwari, Adv.
Mr. R.P. Bansal, Adv.
Mr. Prashant Bhushan, AOR
Mr. Kiran Kumar Patra, AOR
Ms. Rajani Ohri Lal, AOR
Ms. Madhu Sikri, AOR
Mrs. Rani Chhabra, AOR
Mr. Abhas Kumar, AOR
Mr. Gaurav Goel, AOR
Mr. Kameshwar Nath Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Upendra Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Sunny Choudhary AOR
Mrs. Rashmi Singhania, AOR
Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR
Mr. Nitin Mishra, AOR
Ms. Supriya Jeneja, AOR
Mr. Mantavya Sharma, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
The matter has been placed before us as per our directions because the aspect of Satellite mapping and Geo fencing is extremely important considering that the unauthorized construction is a perennial problem. It is necessary that the modern technologies for Satellite mapping of lands and buildings to detect encroachments and unauthorized/illegal constructions and Geo fencing of lands/premises for prompt monitoring and control takes place.
On analysis of the matter, we find that in order to detect encroachment of land, a preliminary requirement was conducting satellite mapping of lands and Digitization of Cadastral Maps which apparently has already been completed in the Union Territory of Delhi under Digital India Lands Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP).
The next requirement is to obtain High
Resolution Satellite Imagery of the area from Indian Remote Sensing Agency (IRSA) or other external sources such as Google. The alternative apparently is that the aerial photographs by engaging services of drone fitted with high precision cameras as the aerial photography through high resolution drones are purported to be superior to that which are readily available through Satellite Imagery pictures.
The next step would be a Geo fencing of the Digitalized Cadastral Maps and High Resolution Satellite Imagery (of all aerial photography) by fixing reference points along the boundary of the areas selected for Mapping. Such reference points are fixed by using Electronic Total Station (ETS) and Differential Global Positioning System Equipment (DGPS) and the number of such points shall vary, depending on the area to be mapped and the
topography.
Once the aforesaid two exercises are completed, the Geo reference maps are superimposed on each other to obtain changes/variations of ground realities from the Land Revenue records. Proper alignment of the Geo referenced Digitalized Cadastral Maps and Satellite Imagery/aerial photography after allowing for permissible variations between the two, shall provide the necessary details regarding
encroachments. UNAUTHORIZED/ILLEGAL CONSTRUCTION
The area development plans of the area are to be mapped which are made available by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). Geo reference of the
area selected for mapping to detect
unauthorized/illegal constructions is to take place in terms of what we have expounded aforesaid and services of drone fitted with high precision cameras to take 3D pictures of the entire area for the selected survey. These aerial photography obtained from the Drone shall be superimposed on the Geo reference area development plans to detect
unauthorized usage of lands for construction within the permissible zone. The aerial photography obtained from the drone needs to be verified with individually with the approved building plans by the DDA.
ILLEGAL OCCUPATION OF LANDS/PREMISES
Geo fencing is widely used for various purposes including surveillance/monitoring of selected areas/premises requiring constant vigil and care and it would possibly be ideally used in the cases of water bodies, forests, mining areas etc. which require regular monitoring to prevent various illegalities such as encroachments, illegal mining etc. Geo fencing of premises/lands is possible only after coordinates of the selected areas/premises are available through Geo reference.
We understand that there is a Government of India funded scheme for Presentation on Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme dated 11.01.2016. It appears that there has been very little use effectively by the States and the UTs, for obvious reasons. By adopting the technologies and the schemes of the Government of India the scope of human intervention is decreased and consequently the monetary intervention.
We are of the view that the aforesaid must be implemented at the earliest and a status report in respect of the aforesaid filed before us by the concerned authorities within four weeks from today.
List on 14.11.2022.
At this stage, learned Amicus points out that in terms of our order dated 13.09.2022, space had to be arranged for the Judicial Committee of Judges appointed by us within two weeks and that nothing has happened till date. Learned ASG to ensure that the needful is done by the concerned within a week on the pain of contempt.
The Amicus is permitted to place the consolidated list of applications sought to be transferred to the Judicial Committee appointed in pursuance to further work done by them.
Learned Amicus points out that in terms of the directions by this Court dated 26.07.2022/13.09.2022, the expenses for the Judicial Committee are to be borne out of the amounts deposited with the Monitoring Committee. Learned counsel submits that out of the total amount of over Rs.10 crore, deposited with the Committee, about Rs.8 crore plus has been transferred to this Court. The suggestion thus, is that since the Monitoring Committee had its own expenses also, the amounts be paid to the Judicial Committee out of the funds of this Court.
We direct that the Judicial Committee both for in-pocket and out of the pocket expenses may raise memos and the Registry is directed to remit payments in pursuance thereof.
In order to avoid back and forth on the issue of fixing of the fee of the Judicial Committee, we consider appropriate to fix fee ourselves.
We fix the fee at Rs.2.5 lakh each per sitting for the Judicial Committee for the time being.
(ASHA SUNDRIYAL) (POONAM VAID)
ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS COURT MASTER (NSH)