HC junks plea by Sunder Nagar Nursery jhuggi residents on demolition action

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea by residents of the jhuggi jhopri basti at Sunder Nagar Nursery near DPS Mathura Road. The residents had sought a review and recall of the court’s 2019 order following a recent demolition action.

The 2019 order, which stated that no jhuggi jhopri clusters existed on the land before January 1, 2006, came under scrutiny during the review. The residents argued that the court overlooked evidence such as telephone bills, Aadhaar cards, and election cards, questioning the conclusion that the cluster wasn’t in existence before the specified date.

A division bench, comprising Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, disagreed with the residents’ submissions, noting, “The court has affirmed that since the appellants did not submit the mentioned documents, the inevitable conclusion is that they were not residing at that location before January 1, 2006.”

The bench emphasized that the review petition and connected applications were filed over four years after the 2019 order, following actions taken by authorities. The residents’ argument that the 2012 survey featured the names of 212 families in the JJ cluster was rejected by the court, stating, “The conclusion drawn by the Single Judge was of a position which was in existence before January 1, 2006, that is, much before the survey in 2012.”

Additionally, the court dismissed the claim that the review petitioner and applicants were not parties during the 2019 hearings, calling it “misconceived.” The earlier writ petition leading to the 2019 order was filed by a party representing the jhuggi dwellers.

The bench concluded, “The submission of the petition/application, occurring more than four years later, cannot be considered, given

that the review petitioner/applicant remained inactive during this period. Their approach to the court is a response to actions initiated by the respondents.”