The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the sealing and demolition of unauthorised constructions in Delhi will continue. The top court passed the verdict after the Centre said that it had not asked authorities in Delhi to stop the sealing drive against illegal constructions, PTI reported.

The court also directed the Centre to come up with guidelines within two weeks
to blacklist builders, contractors and architects who construct buildings that violate the sanctioned plan. The top court said that any unauthorised construction that authorities notice should be stopped immediately, and officers carrying out the sealing drive should be given police protection.

In April, the Centre told the Supreme Court that a special task force would be set up to oversee the enforcement of laws to deal with unauthorised construction and encroachments, and look into the safety of buildings that have been built legally. The government told a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta that the task force would examine whether schools, hospitals, movie theatres and restaurants complied with fire safety norms.

Subsequently, the court prohibited any further unauthorised construction in 1,797 illegal colonies in Delhi, and asked the central government to form the special task force soon.