After several years, a land mark judgment has come in favor of slum dwellers. A pro poor judgment has been delivered by the judiciary on the basis of existing legislation and policies, which were denied to them earlier in several cases. A note my Ramendra from Delhi Shramik Sangathan.

Related Links
Shrinking Spaces of Democracy
Cities and cities
Slum Dwellers in Mumbai Demand Rights
Bangalore Closing Public Parks as Public Spaces

A division bench of Delhi High court comprising justice A P Shah & justice S Murlidhar has delivered the order yesterday. Recognizing the human and human rights costs of slum demolition, the court ruled that the government needed to arrange for alternatives before demolition of slums. Slum dwellers needed to be relocated to a place with appropriate civic amenities before eviction, the court ruled.

It specifically asked the government and municipal bodies to avoid demolition of slums for reasons of city beautification. Rather than demolishing slums, the court commented, governments must evolve policies to prevent the spread of slums. The Bench further said: "This Court would like to emphasise that in the context of the Master Plan for Delhi-2021, jhuggi dwellers are not to be treated as secondary citizens. They are entitled to no less an access to basic survival needs as any other citizen". "It must be remembered that the Master Plan for Delhi-2021 clearly identifies the relocation of slum dwellers as one of the priorities for the government.

Clippings of the judgment in English (Okhla Judgement-11th Feb'2010 clippings.pdf) and Hindi (Okhla judgment clippings.pdf) are available. 

The case was filed by members of Delhi Shramik Sangathan of New Sanjay camp, Okhla Industrial area. The part of Sanjay camp was demolished on 5^th Feb’09 by PWD in the name of Right of Way and the evictees were not resettled under the relocation policy. The part of Nehru camp of Patparganj was also demolished in 2007 in the name of Right of way by PWD and the evictees were not resettled.

The case was represented in the court by eminent Supreme Court lawyer Sh Prashant Bhushan & his committed team. The DSS members of New Sanjay camp put a lot of effort in collecting information & evidences in support of the case. The central team of DSS provided all secondary information & other inputs. The DSS local team worked with assistance of lawyer Mr. Somesh & Mr. Rohit of Mr. Prashant Bhushan team.