Delhi HC pulls up DDA for woes faced by refugees from Pakistan

The Delhi High Court has pulled up DDA officials for their lackadaisical attitude towards those refugees in the city who came from Pakistan during partition, forcing them to file numerous litigations in the courts.

The Delhi High Court has pulled up DDA officials for their lackadaisical attitude towards those refugees in the city who came from Pakistan during partition, forcing them to file numerous litigations in the courts.

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"We may highlight how the executive is choking the courts. The instant case highlights how a non-responsive bureaucracy can make a citizen run mad and how the courts can be burdened with unnecessary litigation," observed a Bench headed by Justice Pradeep Nandrajog, while imposed a cost of Rs 5,500 against DDA.

The Court allowed a plea for allotment for an alternative site under the scheme of resettlement of refugees to the family of one such refugee-Khairati Lal, who had migrated from Pakistan during partition.

"There are at least two dozen matters still pending in this court pertaining to the claim of refugees for allotment of alternate sites..." the Bench added.

Lal's grandson Harish Kumar said his grandfather had occupied a land measuring 184 sq yards in Motia Khan area and paid the damages for use of such land under Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act till 1967.

After Lal's death Kumar started paying the damages to DDA. During the Emergency in 1975, a redevelopment scheme of Motia Khan was formulated by DDA and repossessed the land from the occupants.

Soon after Emergency was lifted, DDA in a new policy in 1977, sought to resettle the refugees by providing alternative sites.