Delhi Properties With 'Illegal Constructions' Booked For Action Can Now Be Regularised — Here's How

People in Delhi will be able to “regularise” their homes that have been booked for action by getting building sanction plans granted and “illegal constructions removed,” according to Mayor Shelly Oberoi, after the MCD House approved a motion on booked properties on Monday, news agency PTI reported. The action comes months before the Lok Sabha elections. This decision will help lakhs of people and put an end to “corruption in installing electricity meters” at such buildings, Oberoi stated at a news conference.

An official then clarified that “booking” refers to a property being “booked for action” and that if a change or addition to an existing structure is determined to be in violation of the authorized building plan, the “illegal part” is marked for demolition.

AAP ‘Opening New Avenues’ To ‘Promote Corruption’: LoP Raja Iqbal Singh 

Raja Iqbal Singh, the Leader of the Opposition, also held a press conference after the proceedings were adjourned, alleging that the AAP “is opening new avenues” by bringing the Delhi Jal Board, the Power Department, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) together for a project that will “promote corruption.”

The AAP-led MCD should press down on the Building Department to prohibit unlawful buildings, but they have discovered “new dimensions of corruption,” he alleged.

Singh remarked that an amnesty plan for property taxes should be “introduced immediately” and that shopkeepers are being “troubled due to fines in the name of advertisement boards”.

A Diplomate National Board (DNB) course at the medical college attached to the Hindu Rao Hospital, as well as an extension of a contract for toll tax collection and Environment Compensation Charges, were among the proposals approved by the House on Monday, despite BJP members’ protests over a recent Alipur fire.

The mayor’s office announced in a statement that the AAP administration in the MCD had made a “major decision.”

How Delhi Properties Booked For Action Can Now Be Regularised?

After the House adjourned for the day, Oberoi spoke to reporters about the bills that passed.

“There is a big problem in Delhi which is whenever there is renovation or alteration in any property in a colony or any new building is being constructed, then those properties are booked by the MCD,” she was quoted as saying by PTI in its report.

Oberoi said the proposal was made “based on a court case ‘Preeti vs MCD 2007’.

“People will be able to get their booked property regularised by getting the building sanction plan passed and illegal constructions removed. Lakhs of people will benefit from this decision. Corruption in installing electricity metres on (such) properties, and (any) illegal construction will be stopped. The officers will have to do this work of the people with transparency and within the stipulated time limit,” the statement quoted her as saying, PTI reported.

“Booked properties can now be regularised as per the rules. Like someone has got a building plan passed and built a two-storey house. But after some time, a third floor was also constructed and that floor was booked, considering the extra floor as illegal. If there is permission to build three floors in that area, then such a property owner will be able to get that third floor regularised later by getting the building plan passed and paying the necessary fees,” she added.

Aside from that, if additional floors have been built, owners of such buildings will be able to have them regularized by removing them in order to remain in conformity with the approved construction design.

How People Can Modify Their Properties Under The New Plan?

Oberoi explained that whenever a property in Delhi undergoes any repair, modification, or addition and the owner files a property tax return, an assessing officer from the MCD’s Assessment and Collection department can request the building plan from the Building department.

Following that, the assessing officer must provide the Building Department with the house tax information for the building in question, together with any alterations or additions made.

The assessing officer will be responsible for responding to the Building Department. Oberoi informed reporters that the evaluating officer and the Building department will be “accountable to each other” and must respond within 15 days.

Following that, according to Section 491 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, the zonal deputy commissioner and superintendent engineer will “ensure that if there is any change in any building, the same will have to be informed to the Electricity Department and the Delhi Jal Board,” the statement said.

“It will be the responsibility of these officers that if any action is to be taken on any illegal construction, then before doing that they will have to prepare a report of such a property and inform the Electricity department and the Delhi Jal Board. The zonal deputy commissioner and the superintendent engineer will ensure that any action is taken on the property only after taking and giving the complete report from all the departments. Action will be taken on any property only after the report reaches the Delhi Jal Board, Electricity department, assessing officer and the Building department,” the statement was quoted by PTI in its report.

After the proposal’s passing, the public will “get relief” and there will be “no corruption” in the process, the statement further stated.