RAM ADHAR Vs. UNION TERRITORY ADMINISTRATION AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) CHANDIGARH , "The City Beautiful", was conceived and developed as a planned city by Le Corbusier, the legendary architect. However, as the city grew over the years, there came up large number of slums in and around it. Thus, the city witnessed growth of a number of colonies of such slums where construction was raised unauthorizedly and in haphazard manner. Chandigarh Administration, respondent No. 1, keeping in view the guiding principles of a welfare State as the Republic of India is, conceived a plan to rid the city of such unplanned and haphazard colonies and at the same time to provide for rehabilitation of the inhabitants of such colonies in the event of the colonies being removed. To translate this plan into reality, the 1st respondent got a bio -metric survey conducted so as to identify the encroachments and to assess the requirements of a total area of land etc. to accommodate the persons to be rehabilitated in consequence of removal of the colonies. Survey was conducted in the month of March, 2006 and 18 colonies were identified where there were encroachments over public land and the habitation had come up in an unplanned and haphazard manner. Clearance of these slums was bound to visit many with unenviable circumstances in the form of displacement. Chandigarh Administration, with a view to rehabilitate such persons, floated a scheme, namely, "Chandigarh Small Flats Scheme 2006" (hereinafter referred to as 'the Scheme'). Clauses 2 and 6 of the Scheme reads as under: -

(2.) THE Chandigarh Administration after conducting a Biometric survey in March 2006 has identified 18 colonies where unplanned habitations have encroached upon public land. Only those included in the bio -metric survey will be eligible for license fee based accommodation under this Scheme.

(3.) WE have heard learned counsel for the parties and have perused the record very minutely.