Delhi HC orders relocation of five slum dwellers evicted by railways
The Hindu
Hounded by poverty and penury, the dwellers have no option but to comply: court
The Delhi High Court directed relocation of five slum dwellers who were shifted from Shahid Basti jhuggi in Nabi Karim to Lahori Gate side at the time of the expansion of the New Delhi railway station.
Justice C. Hari Shankar said the five slum dwellers would present themselves before the officer concerned of the Indian Railways with all documents in their possession to demonstrate that they have been residing in Shahid Basti jhuggi since the 1980s.
“Rarely is it that jhuggi dwellers can claim to permanently establish themselves at any particular site. They are often uprooted from the place where they dwell, shifted, perforce and often against their will, elsewhere,” Justice Shankar observed.
“Hounded by poverty and penury, they have no option but to comply,” Justice Shankar said, adding, “Slum dwellers do not stay in slums out of choice. Their choice of residence is a last-ditch effort at securing for themselves what the Constitution regards as an inalienable adjunct to the right to life under Article 21, viz. the right to shelter and a roof over their heads”.
The High Court’s remarks came while dealing with a petition filed by five slum dwellers in 2008 against their eviction even from the Lahori Gate side of the railways land due to the continuing expansion and modernisation of the New Delhi railway station.
The Railways have acknowledged the fact that during the exercise of increasing the number of platforms in the New Delhi Railway Station in 2003, they had to remove the jhuggis in the Shahid Basti below the foot over bridge and shift them to the Lahori Gate side.
To expand the railway station, the jhuggis situated on Lahori Gate side were demolished on June 14, 2008.
Forest Department’s afforestation plans go awry as A.P. govt. fails to release CAMPA funds in time. The department has not been able to implement its Annual Plan Operation since 2018-19 despite the Union government releasing funds, and the interest accrued on unutilised funds now stands at ₹250 crore.
TDP leaders release booklet on ‘atrocities’ of YSRCP MLA Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy. The party leaders vow to prove in courts the MLA’s involvement in offences of varying nature. Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy has 79 criminal cases pending against him, of which 51 are related to attacks by him and his followers on persons belonging to the BCs, SCs, STs and minorities, says the TDP.