JUDGMENT

S. Muralidhar, J.

Introduction

1.1. These are four petitions which highlight the chaos resulting partly from the inadequate provisions, and partly the improper implementation, of the Master Plans for Delhi (`MPD'), both for 2001 and 2021. The particular focus in these petitions is on the "mixed use regulations" forming part of the MPD.

1.2. A common sight in many of Delhi's residential colonies these days is one of congestion and the ubiquitous lack of `parking space' for vehicles of not just residents but also visitors. Increasingly, there is a gradual transformation of living spaces into commercial ones. What, to begin with, was a two-storied residential house now has a business operating on either or both floors. This inevitably increases the strain on the already stretched infrastructure and resources. Since the rapidity of these changes was not anticipated by the MPD, the assumptions that formed its basis appear in practice to have been underestimated.

1.3. The adverse effects of the above changes on the resident population of one such `up-scale' Delhi colony, Greater Kailash-I (`GK-I') drove Mr. P.V. Kapur, a Senior Advocate of this Court and a resident of GK-I, t