Delhi HC refuses grant stay for demolition of slums at land allotted for NDRF Headquarters

 

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to grant any stay to the residents of Priyanka Gandhi Camp, a slum cluster, in Vasant Vihar against a demolition drive at the land allotted to National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). However, the court postponed the date of demolition from June 2 to June 15.

‘Notice of demolition dated May 19, 2023, which will be enforced from June 2, 2023, be extended to June 15, 2023. We have not stopped. We are not staying it. We are saying shift the date, the deadline’, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said. Though the court refused to stay the demolition but asked the Delhi Urban Shelter Imprisonment Board (DUSIB) to consider the plea of residents seeking rehabilitation and meanwhile shift them to a temporary shelter.

The residents of Priyanka Gandhi Camp 69 families had approached the high court challenging the demolition order of May 19, 2023, issued by the authorities. They had sought a direction for the status quo in the matter. It was stated by the counsel that the residents are entitled to rehabilitation under the relocation scheme 2015 as the slum is included in the additional list of 82 slums of the DUSIB. However, this argument was opposed by the counsel for DUSIB who said that the Priyanka Gandhi Camp is not 675 notified clusters. Those who are part of the additional list do not have any vested rights. It was also stated the petitioner’s residents are residing in the slum for the last three decades.

On the other hand, ASG Chetan Sharma, on behalf of NDRF, submitted that land was allotted for the construction of the NDRF Headquarters. It was a matter of national safety and security. He also submitted that Connaught Place and other areas are in the seismic zone. This is not a case of competing interests but it requires overwhelming criticality. The land in question was allotted to NDRF by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in 2020. The NDRF Headquarters at present is operating from leased premises. The matter has been listed on August 8 for further hearing.