Supreme Court stays JDA’s Sirsi Road widening drive in Jaipur, orders status quo on 300-plus demolitions
Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issues notice on Nand Kishore Sharma's plea, seeks reply in four weeks
Last Updated:
Representative image
Jaipur: The Supreme Court has stayed the Jaipur Development Authority’s proposed action on Sirsi Road, where more than 300 houses and shops had already been marked for demolition as part of a plan to widen the arterial stretch to 160 feet.
A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta passed the order while hearing a special leave petition filed by Nand Kishore Sharma and others. The court stayed the Rajasthan High Court’s earlier order that had cleared the way for the drive, and directed all parties to maintain status quo in the case.
Notices have been issued to all parties, with their responses sought within four weeks.
The JDA had begun the exercise after the High Court order, and on Thursday it placed red demarcation marks on more than 300 houses and shops along Sirsi Road. Officials said the road was to be widened to 160 feet, with encroachments to be cleared on both sides. The drive was expected to run across an approximately five-kilometre stretch and could have affected hundreds of shops, houses and commercial complexes.
Notices had been served on the affected occupants asking them to remove what the JDA described as illegal constructions on their own within a set deadline, failing which the authority had said it would carry out bulldozer action.
JDA officials had earlier said the drive was being conducted in compliance with the High Court’s orders, that the prescribed procedure was being followed, and that the authority was in ongoing dialogue with the affected parties to work out a resolution. With the Supreme Court’s stay now in place, the exercise has been halted.
