Delhi sealing to resume today

Caught between an unrelenting Supreme Court and agitating traders, authorities will resume the controversial sealing of unauthorised business establishments here from tomorrow notwithstanding a 24-hour bandh by the trading community today marked by sporadic violence.

After deferring the action for over a month citing law and order situation, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was left with no option but to resume sealing after the Supreme Court came down heavily on the Centre and local authorities for not restarting the drive.

"The sealing will resume from tomorrow," K J Rao, a member of the apex court-appointed monitoring committee, told reporters after a meeting of the panel with MCD officials and the police.

Immediately after the announcement, the traders threatened to take to streets again to strongly "resist" the action in a "non-violent" manner.

"Traders will assemble on the streets in thousands to resist the sealing drive. But we will be completely non-violent", said Praveen Khandelwal, General Secretary of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

Meanwhile, the bandh was marred by stray violence as protesters damaged buses, blocked traffic and clashed with police, disrupting normal life. Most of the markets in the capital, including wholesale marts, remained closed.