NEW DELHI: Extending the halt of demolitions of Jhuggis in the Sarojini Nagar area of South Delhi till the next hearing in July as assured by an additional solicitor general in the last hearing, the Supreme Court on Monday appointed a nodal officer on the request of the Centre to verify details of 172 families living there.
A Bench of Justices K M Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy clarified that it is dealing with the fate of 172 families being uprooted without any kind of rehabilitation and it is not dealing with any kind of public interest litigation. It said cameras can be used to monitor for faster collection of information without any major expenses.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh appearing for the petitioners referred to the Olga Tellis 1985 judgment which pertained to the rights of slum dwellers for rehabilitation before being evicted. The court however said that it has been diluted since then.
During the last hearing, Vikas Singh had argued that thousands of slum dwellers cannot be banished and vanish like that without helping them to relocate. “Where do you expect thousands of people to go? There has to be some scheme,” he said.
ASG KM Natraj appearing for the Centre had said that merely because they have been enrolled on election rolls, it does not confer them rights in this matter.
The petition says that forced eviction of jhuggi residents will permanently disrupt and destroy their lives as about 200 families, including children, elderly and women will be forcibly thrown on the streets, without any alternate accommodation.
The petition was filed by minor Vaishali, through next friend Sita Devi and others.
The plea says that the petitioners do not seek to hinder any of the development work/ public projects undertaken by the government in the area and they are only seeking rehabilitation or relocation as per the policies of the state. The petition has referred to various orders of the High Court of Delhi and said that forced eviction (without rehabilitation/relocation) of slum dwellers has been strongly disregarded.
It also said that concerned authorities cannot deny alternate accommodation/rehabilitation for the indigent residents who have been living in jhuggis of Sarojini Nagar keeping in mind the Delhi Slum Rehabilitation Policy, which provides that all jhuggis that came into existence prior to January 1, 2016 are qualified to be rehabilitated.
The questions of law raised before the top court are whether state resources ought not to be distributed to provide basic minimum housing and shelter to those residing in jhuggis or slums since the 1980, and whether the denial to rehabilitation to the petitioners violates their right to shelter guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
