Central Vista project is the latest drive of the Modi government that has invited large-scale flak across the nation as it has been getting unveiled as the output of thousands of crores of investment amid India's desperate need to financially addressing the COVID-19 pandemic by spending on enhancing the medical infrastructure in the country over installing the adequate medical equipment, surging the vaccine productions, and aiding the distressing people. 

According to the fact-checking reports, the cost of the Central Vista Project is Rs 20,000 crores. In what has become the Center's ambitious and grand redevelopment project, Central Vista envisages building a new triangular-shaped Parliament house, a grand residential complex housing the residences of the Prime Minister and Vice-President. It will also have new office buildings and a Central Secretariat to accommodate various ministries' offices.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last December laid the foundation stone for the new Parliamentary building and the project has been in construction activities on Rajpath and the surrounding lawns from the India Gate to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. However, the project has been running through mass outrage across the country as the opposition parties and activists have been demanding the Center to halt the project and divert the funds to the COVID-19 relief efforts, as India is one of the most affected countries by the pandemic. 

As the horrendous second wave of the pandemic had heavily disturbed and anguished the people across the borders, several people had demanded the Center to halt the project on humanitarian grounds and invest the allotted funds towards combating the pandemic, which may emerge into the third wave in the coming months, according to the government's scientific adviser. 

However, the Modi government had kept its allegiance to the project and claimed that the project will save a lot of money. The Center has said to the Supreme Court that the project will save money and stated that Rs 1,000 crore, which is spent every year as office rent to the Central ministries in the current complex, can be saved. Amid the outrage and resentments, the Delhi High Court had on Monday allowed the construction work on the Central Vista project. 

According to reports, the High court was hearing Public Interest Litigations (PIL) filed through advocates Gautam Khazanchi and Pradyuman Kaistha which demanded to halt the project. A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh had dismissed the petition by saying that the petition was motivated and not genuine.  

The court has further imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh as a fine on the petitioners by branding the pleas as 'motivated'. The bench had described the project as 'vital, essential, and national importance'. The court has said that the legality of the project was already upheld by the Supreme Court. It added that even the Delhi Disaster Management Authority allowed it to continue, workers were already present at the site and the justices said, "We see no reason to stop the work." 

The petition to halt the work of the project was filed by Anya Malhotra, a translator, and Sohail Hashmi, a historian and documentary filmmaker. By dismissing the plea, the court said under the contract awarded to the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, work had to be completed by November 2022, and therefore, it should be allowed to continue. It had responded its observation to the petitioners who said that the project was not an essential activity and can be put on hold for time being.

The bench said, "The whole Central Vista is an essential project of national importance where the sovereign functions of the Parliament will be conducted. The public is widely interested in this project." There are other concerns that hundreds of workers are involved in the project and they are vulnerable to the COVID-19 viral infection. However, the high court observed that COVID-19 safety protocols are being followed and there is no reason to stall construction and all the facilities are provided to the workers at the site. 

As the court has dismissed the petition, Modi will be moving to his brand new residence after the construction, becoming the first Prime Minister of India to move in the newly constructed Parliament complex. The new Parliament complex and buildings will be having a parking facility for at least 16,000 cars. The court's consent to the project displays that the Center is strongly committed to finishing its ambitious project by defying the voices to halt the construction under humanitarian grounds.