SC orders halt to eviction drive in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri


The Hindu

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Supreme Court orders halt to eviction drive in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri

The Supreme Court on April 20 paused the advancement of bulldozers in violence-hit Delhi’s Jahangirpuri for an anti-encroachment drive.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana ordered status quo on a “special joint encroachment removal programme” spearheaded by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) in Jahangirpuri, where a recent communal clash scarred the peace in the area.

“Maintain status quo. We will list it tomorrow,” Chief Justice Ramana ordered briefly in the morning when senior advocate Dushyant Dave and advocate Subhash Chandran, for the residents, sought the court’s immediate intervention against NDMC’s bulldozers.

However, an hour after the court passed the status quo order, Dave was back before the CJI. This time, he informed the court that the demolition was still on. The authorities had not halted the breakage, claiming they had not got the court’s order.
A structure is demolished during an anti-encroachment drive in the violence-hit Jahangirpuri area of New Delhi on April 20, 2022.

“It is not stopping despite Your Lordships’ order being widely reported in the media. This is very sad... We are in a society that follows the rule of law... Despite the world knowing the court’s order... Despite knowing you have intervened, they continue to say ‘we have not received the order’... This sends a terribly wrong message,” Dave submitted in court.

The CJI promptly ordered the Secretary-General, Supreme Court, and Judicial Registrar to immediately communicate to the Mayor, Delhi Police Commissioner, NDMC and NDMC Commissioner the status quo order of the morning.

Dave had secured the stay order in the morning by arguing that the demolition was “unauthorised and unconstitutional.” The status quo order had come even as the media aired visuals of bulldozers thrashing into property and possessions in Jahangirpuri. Dave had reminded the court that this was an area where “riots took place recently.” He said no prior notice of the demolition drive was given.

“Law says there should be 15 days’ prior notice and a right to appeal,” the senior lawyer had said. A communication sent by the NDMC to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, North-West Delhi, had sought protection from 400 police personnel for the “special joint encroachment removal programme” in Jahangirpuri.

It said various departments were participating in the programme, including the Public Works Department, local body, police, works/maintenance Department, Health Department, sanitation department, enforcement cell of the NDMC and even the veterinary department.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, had joined in, saying such “precipitative action” as in Jahangirpuri was not an isolated one. He said other States were witnessing such incidents.

The Jamiat, in its petition, has primarily sought a direction from the court to the Centre and States such as Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to avoid impetuous steps such as using bulldozers to raze buildings. Destroying the house of a suspect as a means of punishment was foreign to criminal law.

The petition referred to how authorities in Madhya Pradesh had employed bulldozers to demolish properties of those accused of rioting during Ram Navami celebrations. “Residential accommodations or any commercial property cannot be demolished as a punitive measure,” the Jamiat petition urged. The petition said the police should be provided specialised training in handling communal riots.

It said Ministers, legislators and anybody unconnected with the criminal investigation should be restrained from “apportioning criminal responsibility regarding criminal action publicly or through any official communication until determined by a criminal court.”

The plea alleged that several Ministers and legislators made statements about the guilt of a certain section of society, undermining the criminal justice system and the role of courts.

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