New Delhi, 8 June

The Delhi High Court has held that encroachers cannot claim a right to continue occupying public land till their rehabilitation claims are not resolved, as this would unduly impede public projects.

The high court made the observation while granting liberty to the DDA to proceed with the demolition action at Bhoomiheen Camp in South Delhi's Kalkaji in accordance with law.

Justice Dharmesh Sharma said the writ petitions were not only flawed due to the misjoinder of multiple parties with multiple causes of action, but also failed to meet the essential threshold provided by the Delhi Slum and JJ Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy for being considered eligible for relocation and rehabilitation.

"None of the petitioners have any legal right to continue occupying the JJ cluster incessantly, to the detriment of the public at large," the court said in its order passed on 6 June.

The court passed the judgment on a batch of petitions, involving around 1,200 people, seeking direction to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to suspend any further demolition activity, maintain the status quo at the site, and refrain from physically evicting the petitioners from their respective 'jhuggi jhopri' clusters.

The petitioners also sought a direction to the DUSIB to conduct a proper and comprehensive survey of the affected residents and rehabilitate them in accordance with the 2015 policy.

The high court said there can be no gainsaying that the petitioners have no vested right to seek rehabilitation, as it is not an absolute constitutional entitlement available to encroachers such as themselves.

"The right to rehabilitation arises solely from the prevailing policy that binds them. The determination of eligibility for rehabilitation is a separate process from the removal of encroachers from public land.

"Encroachers cannot claim a right to continue occupying public land pending the resolution of their rehabilitation claims under the applicable policy, as this would unduly impede public projects," it said.

The court, however, allowed rehabilitation of some of them and directed the DDA to allocate the EWS category flats.

The nearly three-decades-old slum cluster at Bhoomiheen Camp was home to migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, among others.