NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to grant an interim stay on proposed removal of about 200 jhuggis in Sarojini Nagar but agreed to list the petition seeking relief in this regard for hearing on Monday.
A schoolgirl who is appearing for her Board examinations in a few days, and some other residents of the locality have filed an appeal against a Delhi High Court order dismissing their plea for rehabilitation and relocation of the jhuggis as per the provisions of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) Act bore the eviction drive.
“This matter pertains to ‘jhuggis’ at Sarojini Nagar and the protection (against demolition) is only till Monday. I do not want the same thing as happened in Jahangirpuri to happen here. Please grant the status quo,” senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the petitioners, told the top court.
The Union Ministry of Urban Development had issued ‘eviction/demolition’ notices to all the jhuggi residents on April 4. The HC dismissed the plea of the residents after the Delhi government said that the ‘jhuggis were not notified under the DUSIB Act and hence the residents were not entitled for rehabilitation.
Challenging this order, the petitioners submitted before the SC that the DUSIB Act casts an obligation on the government to frame a scheme for rehabilitation and relocation of the jhuggis before eviction. They also cited the Delhi Slum Rehabilitation Policy, which says all jhuggis that came into existence prior to January 1, 2016, can be rehabilitated.