The Delhi High Court held that its process cannot be used for blackmail or extortion in unauthorised construction cases, fining a petitioner Rs 50,000. Justice Mini Pushkarna warned against NGOs and individuals filing petitions with dishonest motives.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has strongly criticised the misuse of the judicial system by people who try to blackmail others in the name of unauthorised construction cases. The court said that its process is meant for justice and not for harassment or extortion.
While passing an order, the court also imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on a litigant for filing a petition only to trouble others and misuse the legal process.
Justice Mini Pushkarna, in the judgment dated September 18 (made public on September 22), said that although action must always be taken against illegal constructions, the court cannot allow its process to be used by dishonest individuals.
The judge observed,
“This court in a number of petitions has already deprecated the conduct of parties, wherein, writ petitions against unauthorised constructions are filed with the sole motive to extort money. The process of this court is solemn, which is to be resorted to, only for the purposes of seeking justice before this court.”
The court also underlined that,
“However, the solemn process of this court cannot be used by blackmailers for the purposes of extorting money from the persons who are undertaking unauthorised constructions.”
The matter came up before the court on a petition filed by Tauqir Alam in the name of an NGO called Manav Samaj Sudhar Suraksha Sanstha.
He had asked the court to order demolition of an allegedly illegal construction in the Shaheen Bagh area of Delhi. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Police informed the court that the illegal structure had already been demolished.
Justice Pushkarna noted that Alam had no personal connection to the property and his own residence was around two and a half kilometres away.
The judge pointed out that the petitioner’s rights were not violated in any way. Referring to this, the court said,
“Clearly, no fundamental or legal rights of the petitioner are being affected by the unauthorised construction in the property in question, especially when the petitioner does not even reside in the vicinity of the subject property.”
The judge added that such practices are a dangerous trend where litigants unrelated to the property file cases only to pressure or blackmail those involved in construction.
The court said,
“Litigants who have no relation to a property, are using untoward approaches to extort or blackmail persons who are raising unauthorised constructions.”
Further, the court took note of submissions made by the counsel for the property owner, who stated that he had been receiving extortion calls from the petitioner. Recording this, the judge said,
“This court further takes note of the submission made by the counsel appearing for respondent no. 6 (property owner) that he has been receiving calls for extortion from the petitioner through common sources.”
Justice Pushkarna stressed that writ petitions relating to unauthorised construction should only be entertained when the rights of individuals connected to the property—such as light, air, ingress, or egress—are being affected. The court warned against misuse of PILs or NGO names to file such cases without any genuine grievance.
The high court then directed,
“However, considering the submissions made before this court, cost of Rs 50,000 is imposed upon the petitioner, payable to Delhi High Court Advocates’ Welfare Trust…”
Finally, the court gave strict instructions to its registry regarding any future petitions filed by Alam or the NGO.
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It ordered,
“It also directed the court registry that whenever any petition against any unauthorised construction is filed by Tauqir Alam or Manav Samaj Sudhar Suraksha Sanstha (NGO), a copy of this order should be attached to the plea and be brought to the notice of the court.”
This judgment makes it clear that while unauthorised constructions will not be tolerated, the Delhi High Court will also not allow its process to be misused by blackmailers under the garb of public interest petitions.
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