NEW DELHI: The Delhi government is planning to file a review petition in the Supreme Court over its order for demolition of 48,000 slums along the railway tracks while Congress leader Ajay Maken has already challenged the order, terming the demolition move as inhuman.
In his petition filed on Friday, Maken said no slum dweller should be evicted without alternative housing as per the Delhi Slum & Jhuggi Jhopri (JJ) Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015.
Seeking an urgent hearing in the case, Maken said the railways has already issued notices to the slum clusters and plans to carry out the demolition drive from Friday to Monday.
Delhi government officials, meanwhile, said the matter was discussed at a meeting held recently by CM Arvind Kejriwal.
The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) has written to the Northern Railways, which states, “As per the (Special Provisions) Second Act, JJ Bastis that have come up before 1/1/2006 are protected and shall not be removed without orderly arrangement for relocation and rehabilitation of JJ dwellers.”
The DUSIB, which is the nodal agency in such matters, also listed in its letter the housing complexes available for relocation, but said the earliest that arrangements can be made is in December. And then, too, only, 1,060 flats in Sultanpuri will be ready to move in while for the rest, it will need time till March 2021. These premises are being currently used as Covid centres.
The SC order of August 31 barred any court in Delhi from issuing a stay on the eviction proceedings after Railways complained of political interference in the past. The court gave the Railways three months to complete the proceedings.
Maken, in his plea, said the order violated the principles of natural justice as the affected slum dwellers were not heard individually or collectively.
He added that the order violated a ruling of the Constitution bench in Olga Tellis v Bombay Municipal Corporation case of 1986, which held that there can be no justification for denying slum dwellers living on pavements or public properties an opportunity to be heard.
The 48,000 slum clusters sought to be erased have been in existence for 30-40 years and are home to over 240,000 people, it added.
Justice Arun Mishra (now retired) led the three-judge bench that passed the order. CJI SA Bobde will have to constitute a new bench to hear Maken’s application.
A political blame game has also started in Delhi over the SC order. The ruling AAP has blamed the BJP-led Centre while the latter has accused the Delhi government of not creating alternative accommodations for slum dwellers.
DDA objections halted work under AAP govt’s scheme
The Delhi government, in December 2019, announced the Mukhyamantri Aawas Yojana for slum dwellers’ rehabilitation. In this scheme, a survey is conducted of the slum cluster, certificates of eligibility are distributed and then a house is allotted.
The policy ran into trouble with the Delhi Development Authority, the land-owning agency, saying it would survey JJ clusters. “We covered 158 slum clusters, but because of the issues raised by the DDA, our work stopped and then pandemic happened. But the survey work will pick up soon and the DDA hopefully won’t object again,” a DUSIB official said.
Blaming the BJP, the AAP said Railways recommended clearing of clusters as these pose a threat to its operations. “This case shows the real intentions of the BJP, but till Kejriwal government is in power, no house will be demolished,” said AAP MLA Raghav Chadha.