SHAHDARA CHOTTA BAZAR VYAPAR SANGTHAN (REGD.) & ORS vs EAST DELHI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION & ANR

Judgment text excerpt

$~54 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Date of decision: 26th February, 2026 + W.P.(C) 7069/2015 SHAHDARA CHOTTA BAZAR VYAPAR SANGTHAN (REGD.) & ORS. .....Petitioners Through: Mr. Ravish Kumar Goyal, Mr. Aashray Singh, Mr. Vinit Kumar, Mr. Muneeb Ahmed and Mr. Nayan, Advocates. versus EAST DELHI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION & ANR. .....Respondents Through: Mr. Vikas Chopra, standing counsel for MCD with Mr. Neeraj Kumar and Ms. Khushi, Advocates for R-1/MCD. MR. Sanjay Katyal, standing counsel for DDA with Ms. Chand Chopra, Mr. Piyush Vyas and Mr. Nitish Kumar Danda, Advocates for R-2/DDA. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT BANSAL AMIT BANSAL, J. (Oral) 1. The present writ petition has been filed seeking a declaration that ‘Chotta Bazar’, ‘Bara Bazar’, ‘Anaj Mandi’, ‘Farsh Bazar’ (hereinafter ‘Bazars’), part of Shahdara town, fall within the commercial category in Master Plan for Delhi, 1962 (hereinafter ‘MPD, 1962’) and hence, the shop owners therein are not liable to pay conversion charges. 2. The brief facts necessary for deciding the present petition are as Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 7069/2015 Page 1 of 8 By:AANCHAL TAGGAR Signing Date:28.02.2026 16:44:08 follows: 2.1. The petitioners carry on commercial activities from shops located in Bazars, which form part of Shahdara Town, Delhi. The petitioner no.1 is the association of the traders who operate in ‘Chotta Bazar’, Shahdara, whereas the petitioners no.2 and 3 are individual shopkeepers in ‘Bara Bazar’, Shahdara. 2.2. The shops in the Bazars are being run much prior to 1962 for complete commercial use. However, before 1962 there was no master plan for Delhi, therefore, there was no use (commercial/residential) prescribed by the respondents for different areas in Delhi. 2.3. In 1962, the respon