HC seeks ATR on encroachment near Hanuman statue

New Delhi : The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to file an action-taken report on the unauthorised construction and encroachment around Lord Hanuman's 108-foot statue in central Delhi.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar observed that not a single land-owning authority was willing to claim the ownership of the land on which the giant statue stood and that the temple in the vicinity is being maintained without any authority.

"No spirituality can be attached to a criminal activity. Every person involved in this fraud has to be dealt with a heavy hand. Such activity on public land is not at all permissible in the name of religion and this amounts to criminal activity," the bench said and listed the matter for further hearing on September 6.

The court was hearing a petition that sought the removal of unauthorised constructions and encroachment in Karol Bagh.

The idol has been constructed at the busy Karol Bagh-Pusa Road junction.