TheSupreme Court has rightly pulled up civic authorities over illegal and unsafe buildings in Delhi-NCR. Slamming the attitude of local officials, a bench of Justices AAmanullah and Justice R Mahadevan pointed out on Thursday that “only face-saving exercises are being done” to check the menace. The apex court warned officials that it would “attach personal responsibility” on all officials who fail to act against illegal buildings and their owners despite repeated judicial directions. It ordered the personal appearance of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi commissioner and the vice-chairman of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) in court. These orders may drill some sense of propriety in the hearts and minds of bureaucrats. It also constituted a team comprising two senior IIT professors, two draftsmen, and MCD officials to assessunauthorised constructions in Delhi’s Saket, Lajpat Nagar, and Malviya Nagar localities. The panel has also been directed to submit its report to the court. So far, so good, but there are limits that the judiciary can and should travel. The kind of localities where people live, what kind of land that should be, what rules and regulations should govern that land, and so on are matters that the executive should take a call. More importantly, if there are any violations, the wrongdoers must be dealt with accordingly.

It is not the job of the judiciary to crack down on the land sharks, and illegal colonisers, among others. Evidently, our governance system has completely broken down, at least in the matter of colonising and housing. Instead of stopping unauthorised constructions that are mushrooming by the day, local officials are sometimes found to be hand in glove with the violators. For instance, a newspaper report showed that around 93 per cent of establishments inspected in Gurugram’s ongoing fire safety drive were found deficient in mandatory fire safety measures. While judicial intervention may yield good dividends, it cannot offer a long-term solution to the widespread problem. The judiciary cannot substitute for the executive; courts can issue directions, fix accountability, and ensure that authorities perform their statutory duties, but they cannot and should not directly undertake urban planning, enforcement, and governance.

Sustainable reform requires civic agencies, development authorities, and state governments to act with integrity, efficiency, and transparency. Building regulations must be enforced uniformly, without political interference or selective implementation. The need of the hour is a mechanism which ensures that the officials, who deliberately ignore violations or collude with builders, are penalised, and even thrown behind bars. At the same time, approval processes should be made more transparent and technology-driven so that illegal constructions can be detected at an early stage through satellite mapping, digital records, and regular inspections. Public awareness is also important; people shouldn’t knowingly purchase unauthorised buildings. Judicial monitoring may serve as a catalyst for reform, but lasting change will come only when governance institutions function honestly, efficiently, and in accordance with law,ensuring that public safety is never compromised.