The Supreme Court on July 9, 2026, criticised civic authorities for slackness in addressing unauthorised constructions linked to recent fatal fires in Delhi and Lucknow.
A bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R. Mahadevan connected clusters of illegal buildings in Delhi, Gurugram and Lucknow to fires on June 3 in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar and June 22 in Lucknow’s Aliganj.
Amicus curiae Ajit Sinha told the court that the Malviya Nagar blaze in a narrow multi-storey bed and breakfast killed 23 people, mostly foreign nationals from Nigeria, Mozambique, Somalia, Liberia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, with more than 50 rescued. The Lucknow fire claimed 15 lives, many of them students aged 16 to 25.
The court expressed concern over the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s failure to follow earlier directions from 2024 and May 20. It warned that top civic officials could face personal liability and ordered a detailed report by August 4. The bench also sought a report from Gurugram’s civic head after media reports showed 93 per cent of buildings there failed fire safety norms.
