SHAKARPUR SLUM UNION Vs. DDA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The instant writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed by an Organization styled as Shakarpur Slum Union (hereinafter referred to as 'the Union') stating that the Union comprises of residents of Jhuggi Jhopri Bastis (hereinafter referred to as 'JJ Bastis') and slums of the Shakarpur district of Delhi.

(2.) It is stated that on 25/6/2021, without any notice, the DDA officials arrived at the area and demolished about 300 jhuggis. The demolition is stated to have lasted for three days and many of the people, whose jhuggis were demolished, could not even collect their belongings. It is stated that Police officials, along with the officials of DDA, removed the residents from the site. Aggrieved by the aforementioned actions, the instant petition has been filed by the Petitioner-Union with the following prayers:

(3.) It is stated in the writ petition that the JJ Basti in Shakarpur has been in existence since the 1980 and most of its residents are migrants from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal. The residents are mainly comprise of labourers, rag pickers, rickshaw pullers, auto drivers and domestic workers. It is further stated that the JJ Basti is listed at S.No. 553 and 569 in the list of JJ Clusters List published by Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (hereinafter referred to as 'the DUSIB') on its website for rehabilitation and, therefore, the DDA, before initiating any demolition drive, ought to have followed the Delhi Slum and JJ Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as 'the DUSIB Policy') to rehabilitate and relocate the residents of the demolished jhuggis. It is further stated in the writ petition that most of the residents have the proof of residence prior to 1/1/2015 as required by the DUSIB Policy for initiating rehabilitation and relocation. It is stated that the members of the Petitioner-Union were first evicted from their houses at Thokar No. 8 of the Ramesh Park and Lalita Park area in Shakarpur in the year 2006 when the construction and expansion of Delhi Metro was ongoing and, as no rehabilitation had been provided to them at that time, they moved to Thokar No. 10 of the area.