SUDHIR GOEL Vs. M C D

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Judgment shall dispose of a batch of Writ Petitions that have been filed assailing the legal propriety of the Judgment of the Additional District Judge in respect of Appeals filed before him by the occupants of forty five (45) shops in the Red Fort, of which thirty seven (37) shops are under the lease/licence of the MCD and eight (8) shops are under the lease/licence of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). All the shops are situated in what has historically come to be known as the Chhatta Bazaar or Meena Bazaar. The genesis or catalyst of the eviction of these Shopkeepers in the Chhatta Bazar complex is stated by the Respondents to be traceable to the decision of the Division Bench of this Court in a Public Interest Litigation bearing No. CWP 3313/1999 titled as Society for Protection of Heritage and Culture vs. Union of India and Others (PIL in short). The Division Bench had directed the Union of India to remove all the kiosks, canteens and other encroachments in the outer barbican and the periphery of the Red Fort. It is alleged by the Respondents that the Court's directions also covered the Chatta Bazaar but this is not forthcoming from a perusal of any of the Orders passed in that PIL.

(2.) It will be of advantage to reproduce the following Minutes of a Meeting on which the assailed action of the MCD/MoD is avowedly predicated, which are self-explanatory:

(3.) Propelled by these events the MCD had issued Eviction Notices to all the Petitioners on 14.9.2001 and thereabouts, which inter alia read thus:-