Delhi High Court orders panel to deal with unsafe buildings while GRAP bars demolitions

The Delhi High Court has asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to form a top-level committee on dangerous buildings. Pollution rules now stop the civic body from pulling them down. Justice Saurabh Banerjee gave the order on 6 November, and it was reported on 9 November.

The MCD Commissioner is to consult Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and form the committee, preferably within a week. It is to find other ways to deal with buildings that are unsafe: sealing them, repairing them, or demolishing them in a controlled way.

Why the court stepped in

Demolition is banned under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). These anti-pollution rules apply in Delhi and nearby cities as the air gets worse. Stage III of the plan has been in force since 6 November.

So the MCD cannot remove dangerous buildings for months, Business Standard reported. The court said another way of handling them was needed until then.

The court referred to recent collapses in which several people died, including those at Satya Niketan and at Chawri Bazar in Old Delhi. In the Chawri Bazar collapse on 5 November, six people died when an under-construction building on Gali Sitara came down.

The case

The case began with an MCD notice under Section 348 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957. That section lets the corporation order a dangerous building to be repaired or removed.

What’s next

The High Court will hear the case again on 1 January 2027.