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)