Order of the Delhi High Court regarding demolition of jhuggis, Netaji Nagar, Delhi, 06/07/2022
Order of the Delhi High Court in the matter of Jhuggi Jhopri Vikas Samiti Vs Suresh Kumar & Others dated 06/07/2022. The matter related to demolition of jhuggis of the slum dwellers of Netaji Nagar, Delhi.
The petitioner organization (Jhuggi Jhopri Vikas Samiti, Netaji Nagar) said that the act of demolishing the jhuggis is contrary to the mandate of the Delhi High Court order (in W.P.(C) 11616/2015 titled as Ajay Maken & Ors v. Union of India & Ors).
The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Land & Development Office, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi, has given notices to the occupants of the Petitioner Organization that asked them to vacate the land and shift elsewhere within 7 days from the date of issue of the notice, "failing which the same will be got evicted forcefully with the help of local police." The notice also said that the jhuggis were not covered under the list of JJ basti/clusters notified by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) from time to time and hence not entitled for any rehabilitation.
The bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad said that the judgment of Ajay Maken would be applicable only to those clusters which have been notified by the DUSIB in its policy. Admittedly, the cluster in question is not a notified cluster and thus the action of demolishing the jhuggi clusters is not in violation of the court order, the order said.