Delhi HC notes single Judge overlooked definition of private streets, modifies order on DLF Chhatarpur farms roads

The Delhi High Court has observed that a Single Judge "appears to have overlooked the statutory definition of private street" while ordering free public access to roads inside DLF Chhatarpur Farms.

Granting interim relief to the Chhatarpur Farm Welfare Society, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela modified the earlier order, remarking that the interim directions effectively amounted to granting the final relief sought in the writ petition, a step that could not be taken before deciding the ownership and legal status of the roads.

The court clarified that under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 (DMC Act), both "public streets" and "private streets" are recognised.

A private street is one that does not vest in the municipal corporation but connects different properties, whereas a public street vests in the civic body or is formally declared as such. The judges noted that whether the Chhatarpur roads fall into either category is an issue still pending adjudication.

For the Welfare Society, Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao, with Advocate Sumit Gahlot and others, argued that the roads were carved out of private land by farm owners and handed over to the Qutab Garden Colony Co-operative Multipurpose Society Ltd. for upkeep.

They pointed to revenue records showing private ownership and asserted that neither the MCD nor the DDA has jurisdiction over them. The Society maintained that the Single Judge wrongly assumed all roads in Delhi must be public, which, they said, would render the very definition of "private street" meaningless.

Opposing this, Advocate Anup Kumar, assisted by Neha Jaiswal, Shruti Singh, and Shivam Kumar, appeared for the writ petitioners led by Priyanshu Agrawal.

They contended that the roads were public in nature and that restrictions imposed by society were an "afterthought," as residents of nearby colonies had freely used them until the COVID-19 pandemic. They argued that blocking access contravened the Delhi Master Plan 2021 and statutory provisions.

Government authorities were also represented by Siddhant Nath (Standing Counsel for MCD), Sameer Vashisht (Standing Counsel, Civil, for GNCTD), Ajay Jain (Senior Panel Counsel for the Union of India), and Tushar Sannu with Aqsa (for DDA).

Acknowledging that the writ petition remains undecided, the Bench facilitated an interim arrangement acceptable to both sides. It allowed residents of surrounding colonies passage from Gate 1 to Gate 3 via North Drive to Link Road to Oak Drive, and vice versa.

This access is permitted daily from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and limited to pedestrians, cyclists, two-wheelers, four-wheelers, and essential service vehicles such as ambulances and municipal vehicles. Laden commercial trucks were expressly prohibited, and the public cannot use other internal roads.

The court clarified that this arrangement is purely temporary and subject to the final outcome of the pending writ petition. All rights and contentions of the parties have been kept open.