Ration card is not address proof: Delhi HC

Delhi HC rules ration cards not reliable proof of address, only for food distribution. Orders DDA to allocate housing to erstwhile residents.

The Delhi high court has said that ration cards cannot be considered a reliable source of proof of address, as they exist only to ensure the provision of food grains at a reasonable price to citizens.

The residents had sought the quashing of a July 2020 letter by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which rejected their claim for allotment of houses following the redevelopment of the area. (Representational image)

“The aim of the ration card is to ensure that the citizens of this country are provided food grains at a reasonable price. Hence, it is not a reliable source of proof of address since the scope is limited to distribution of food items by way of Public Distribution System,” a bench of justice Chandra Dhari Singh said in a February 29 verdict, the order of which was uploaded on Wednesday.

The court passed the judgment while considering a plea filed by erstwhile residents of Kathputli Colony in west Delhi, who before the redevelopment of the area lived in the first floor of JJ colonies in the area. The residents had sought the quashing of a July 2020 letter by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which rejected their claim for allotment of houses following the redevelopment of the area.

The authority had rejected their claims on the grounds that they had failed to fulfil the requirements of the DDA Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015. This policy delineates the eligibility criteria for the allotment of alternative dwelling units to rehabilitate and relocate JJ colony dwellers, and states that a person claiming rehabilitation for the first floor of such a house can be eligible only if they are able to produce a separate ration card as proof that they are a separate family unit.

During the hearing in the high court, the DDA counsel submitted that these petitioners were not entitled to alternate accommodation as they failed to furnish a separate ration card.

However, the court took note of a March 2015 gazette notification issued by the Union ministry of consumer affairs, which disallowed the use of ration cards as documents of identity or proof of residence, and remarked that the mandatory requirement of separate ration cards was very arbitrary.

“The mandatory requirement of a separate ration card is very arbitrary since it cannot be used as an address proof as directed by way of the aforesaid gazette notification. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the respondent that they should have introspected into the intent and motive behind the issuing of the Ration Card which is distribution of food through the Public Distribution System,” the court said in a 49-page verdict.

The court also directed DDA to allocate an alternative dwelling unit to the erstwhile residents saying that the right to housing shall be kept at the highest pedestal.

“Accordingly, this court is also of the view that the petitioner’s right to housing shall be kept at the highest pedestal. It is one of the safeguards provided in our Constitution and the legacy has been carried forward by the writ court by way of various judicial precedents which reiterates the same,” the court said.