What’s happening behind big walls at India Gate Circle?

Undue secrecy irks Delhi HC

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has asked authorities to tell it what was being constructed behind "big walls" at the India Gate Circle.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said every building site shows a picture of what is being constructed, but the construction at the India Gate roundabout in the Lutyens' zone is being carried out in a secret manner behind "big walls".

"What are you hiding behind those big walls. Why so secrecy is being maintained. Do the people of Delhi do not have the right to know. We also want to rejoice in it. Are we not entitled to know? " the bench observed, while asking the lawyer appearing for the Delhi government about the construction.

The standing counsel for the Delhi government replied that the Ministry of Defence was building a National War Memorial at India Gate to honour those who have laid down their lives for the country since Independence.

The bench then asked what was the point of being secretive when CCTV cameras around the India Gate roundabout were not functional.

The observation came while adjudicating a PIL plea that the court had initiated on its own after receiving a letter from an AIIMS physiotherapist who claimed that CCTV cameras at the India Gate Circle area were not functioning on June 28 night.

The physiotherapist had claimed that on June 28 a speeding vehicle came towards his car from the opposite direction near the forcing him to stop. Thereafter, the driver of the other vehicle assaulted him and sped away from the site, the letter said.

It also said when he went to the police station to lodge a complaint, he was told that the other vehicle could not be traced as there were no functional CCTV cameras in the area.

Terming the incident as "unfortunate", the high court had said if the cameras were functional then instances of "road rage would come to an end".