Delhi: Centre approves power connections to Hindu refugees in Adarsh Nagar

The petitioner had moved the Delhi high court last year highlighting that over 200 migrant families from Pakistan were living in Adarsh Nagar without electricity

The union government on Thursday told the Delhi high court that it has given approval for the installation of electricity connection for Pakistan Hindu refugees staying in north Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar. Noting this submission, the court directed Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) to electrify the area within 30 days.

Delhi: Centre approves power connections to Hindu refugees in Adarsh Nagar

A bench of chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Subramonium Prasad was informed by central government standing counsel Anurag Alhuwalia that the Ministry of Defence, on whose land the Hindu-refugees were residing, has given the permission to grant electricity connection to the residents considering the human issues involved in the matter.

Advocate Alhuwalia gave a letter by the Ministry of Defence dated November 7 by which the approval was granted.

In its letter, the Ministry has said that the defence land in question has been earmarked for a vital defense project and action is in hand by the DEO Delhi for the eviction of unauthorized occupants from the land.

However, in pursuance to the earlier order of the high court of September 6, by which it had asked the authorities to take a sympathetic view, the approval is being granted “subject to the process of removal of encroachment as per process”.

Noting this, the court disposed of the plea by a social worker Hariom, who had sought electricity for these migrants. The authorities had refused them the connection while seeking a valid Aadhaar card or proof of ownership.

“In view of the aforesaid, the present PIL shall stand disposed of with a direction to Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) to provide electricity connection to the residents within 30 days,” the court said in its oral order.

As the power company objected to paying for the process and cost of installation, CJ Sharma said that “once the government authority has granted approval, TPDDL does not have any choice except to give electricity to all the residents”.

The counsel for the power company had contended that the land owning agency, in this case the Ministry of Defense will have to write to them requesting electricity connection, adding that the cost of approximately ₹2 crore would also have to be borne by them.

However, advocate Alhuwalia for the ministry said that they have already granted the approval and now it’s the job of TPDDL to provide the electricity connection.

The counsel for the petitioner said that the residents are ready to install a pre-paid meter so that the power company does not incur much expenditure.

The petitioner-Hariom, who claims to be working for the welfare of minority migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, had moved the court last year highlighting that over 200 migrant families from Pakistan were living in Adarsh Nagar without electricity.

The plea sought directions for providing the migrants with electricity connections on the basis of their Aadhaar cards, long-term visa and passports under the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (Supply Code and Performance Standards) Regulations, 2017, and to include these documents as identity proof and Aadhaar card as proof of occupancy.

On an earlier date (September 6), the court had asked the union government to sympathetically look into the plight of Hindu migrants from Pakistan living without electricity at a slum in the city’s Adarsh Nagar area. In its order, the court noted that the migrants, who arrived in India on long-term visas, were economically challenged, without a permanent place of shelter, and possessed Aadhaar cards.

The Centre’s counsel had assured the court that he is escalating the matter to the highest level and persuading the authorities to resolve the issue at the earliest.