New Delhi, Dec 9 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has dismissed a man's plea seeking allotment of a place in lieu of his shop that was demolished in 1975, saying he has approached the court with a gross delay of over 46 years.

The high court said the seemingly innocuous prayer of the man of seeking a direction to the authorities to dispose of his representation, appears to be an attempt to create a fresh cause of action so that he can overcome delay and latches.

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“This is a case where the petition is liable to be dismissed on the ground of gross delay and latches in approaching the court of law. Shop of the petitioner (man) was demolished as far back as 1975 and petitioner has waited for over 46 years in approaching this court,” Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said.

There is no ground to direct the authorities to even decide his representation, the high court said, adding that there was no merit in the petition.

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The man sought direction to the North Municipal Corporation of Delhi to decide his October 2019 representation by which he submitted that he be allotted a shop in lieu of the one that was occupied by him on public land which was demolished in 1975.

The man's case was that he had constructed a shop in Meena Bazar, opposite Jama Masjid here in 1971 and he paid damages to DDA till 1975 and in 1975-76, when a demolition drive was conducted during emergency, his shop was demolished and he was not allotted any alternate shop.

The man said that in October 1977, a policy was framed by DDA for allotment of alternative place/ shops to Motia Khan Steel Merchants, who were evicted from Motia Khan area and whose shops were demolished in the drive.

He said he gave repeated representations to the authorities over the years and received a response only in 2010 when the North MCD informed him that his representation has been considered by the competent authority and it was decided that there was no scope for any new entrance in the existing plan and his request could not be acceded to.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)