The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered that the status quo shall be maintained for another two weeks on the demolition drive carried out by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation in the national capital’s Jahangirpuri area.
A Bench comprising Justice L. Nageshwar Rao and Justice B.R. Gavai also issued notice to North DMC and others, asking them to file a reply on the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind’s petition against the drive in Jahangirpuri. Extending the interim relief for another two weeks, the top court also clarified that it will take a serious view on the demolition drive which was carried out even after the information was given to the Mayor of maintaining a status quo by the apex court on Thursday, 20 April.
The Court also issued notices to other concerned respondents in other pleas relating to the demolition drive being carried out in other parts of the country.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the petitioner, argued that a particular section of the society is being targeted through the demolition drive. He also pointed out that this issue is not confined to Jahangirpuri and if this is allowed there will be no rule of law left. He also raised questions on how a BJP leader can write a letter regarding demolishing such encroachments and North DMC demolished it. Dave says there are various unauthorized colonies in Delhi with neatly 50 lakh people residing in them and added “how can they target a specific community.”
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for another petition, said encroachments are a serious issue but here the issue is that the Muslim community is being associated with encroachments. Sibal indicated that such instances are happening in other states. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta raised questions over the petition, saying that it is being filed by one organisation, Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind. Mehta also said that the drive to remove the encroachments on the footpath etc began on January 19 in Jahangirpuri. Mehta said that allegation that one community is targeted is incorrect. Mehta also cited an example that in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone demolition, as many as 88 affected parties were Hindus and 26 were Muslims. In another petition, Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind moved the Supreme Court against employing bulldozers to raze down the houses of persons suspected to be involved in criminal incidents such as violence. Meanwhile, a report from Kolkata said that after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sent its fact-finding committee to Bagtui village in Rampurhat of Birbhum district in West Bengal, a five-member delegation of female MPs of Trinamool Congress (TMC) will visit Delhi’s Jahangirpuri on Friday, where the demolition drive was carried out by the civic body, informed party sources.
The TMC leaders, including Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sajda Ahmed, Aparupa Poddar, Mala Roy, and Satabdi Roy, will visit Delhi’s Jahangirpuri. Samajwadi Party has also announced a five-member delegation for the Jahangirpuri area.