Whose road it is, asks Delhi HC after demolition drive leaves people displaced

The court was hearing a plea by 121 families who had contended that authorities carried out the demolition from July 6 to July 8, 2020 with absolute disregard to the plight of even around 400 residents who were home quarantined on account of Covid-19.

New Delhi: The Delhi high court has directed the city government’s Public Works Department (PWD) and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) to name the land owning agency of the East Laxmi Nagar Market area where a demolition drive was conducted in July last year to remove encroachment on the service road alongside the nullah road, also known as the Master Plan Road.

The court asked the authorities to file affidavits and posted the matter for further hearing on February 18.

Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, on January 19, 2021, asked the civic body and the PWD to indicate the owner of the land as per records after both them said that the land does not belong to them.

The court was hearing a plea by 121 families who had contended that authorities carried out the demolition from July 6 to July 8, 2020 with absolute disregard to the plight of even around 400 residents who were home quarantined on account of Covid-19. They had alleged that they were treated in an inhumane manner and all their means of existence were destroyed.

The east civic body had demolished 56 houses constructed on a service road of the Master Plan Road following a court order on clearing encroachments. On July 17, 2020 Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had visited the spot and ordered that the people affected by the drive be immediately shifted to temporary shelters. He had also directed officials to begin an in-depth study of the high court order and whether a court order for demolition can be issued in the times of a pandemic.

Advocate J Priyadarshini, also counsel for the petitioners, said that her clients are staying in difficult conditions at these alternative accommodations after they were asked to vacate the school.

While the counsel for the EDMC said that the land was owned by the PWD, the latter’s counsel denied the claim.

The court asked the authorities to file affidavits and posted the matter for further hearing on February 18.

Earlier, on July 24, 2020, the high court had said that onus of providing accommodation to displaced families was on the Delhi government, as over the years, officials of the public works department (PWD) or the road owing agency had either not been vigilant or had ignored the extensive encroachments.