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The Supreme Court of India turned down an application seeking de-sealing of a commercial property in the New Rajinder Nagar Market area of Delhi, directing the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to issue a fresh inspection notice detailing violations, conversion charges and penalties. The court observed that the plot in question was sanctioned for ground-floor commercial use, while upper floors were residential unless conversion charges are paid. It held that a generic judicial committee order did not automatically grant individual de-sealing rights, and emphasised compliance with building plans and sanction conditions.
The Supreme Court recently dismissed an application for de-sealing a commercial premises in New Rajinder Nagar Market, New Delhi, in the course of the long-running PIL initiated by M.C. Mehta in 1985. The bench of Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran gave the ruling and asked the MCD to serve a fresh inspection notice listing non-compoundable violations, conversion charges for upper floors and penalty charges for excess Floor Area Ratio (FAR). Advertisement
The applicant had relied on a December 2023 order of a Judicial Committee to argue that the entire property was meant for commercial use. The court found that that order was general in nature and did not confer individual rights to de-sealing.
On examining the documents, the court found the lease and subsequent freehold rights permitted commercial use only on the ground floor of Plot No. 106 in New Rajinder Nagar Market; the first and upper floors were sanctioned for residential use. The court pointed out that the sanctioned plans of 2005 showed upper-floor residential units and that the applicant had merged the property with an adjoining plot and made unauthorised construction.
The court noted that under the Master Plan for Delhi-2021 (MPD-2021) New Rajinder Nagar Market is designated as a "shop-cum-residence" Local Shopping Centre (LSC), which allows commercial use on the ground floor, and upper floors can be used commercially only after payment of conversion charges. It further observed that the existing FAR exceeded the residential sanctioned FAR and that the upper floors were eligible for conversion but not automatically permitted for commercial use.
The applicant was therefore required to comply with the order by removing non-compoundable constructions or projections, paying conversion charges and penalties for excess FAR and then apply for commercial use of upper floors. The court directed the MCD to issue a joint inspection notice and a written order specifying these requirements.
Source PTI
5th Jun, 2025
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