The Supreme Court dismissed the Communist Party of India (Marxist ) plea against the demolition of properties in South Delhi, including the Shaheen Bagh locality, on Monday. Why is the CPI (M) initiating this petition, said a panel of justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai.
Following that, the petitioner sought to withdraw the case and begged the court to allow him to take his objections to the appropriate High Court.
The Supreme Court allowed the petitioner to take his issue to the High Court and “dismissed the petition as withdrawn.Senior Advocate PV Surendranath, representing the petitioner, attempted to persuade the Supreme Court by arguing that it is in the public interest, not the party’s.
However, the Court stated that it cannot intervene on behalf of a political party because this is not the platform.SC stated that everyone who feels wronged must appear before it.
According to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, facts are being misrepresented because this is a long-running, normal exercise following service of notice. The Supreme Court further stated that it is not in charge of all encroachment cases, and that it cannot issue orders against all encroachments while hearing the Jahangirpuri case.
The court said that no one has been granted permission to come here and claim that their home cannot be demolished, even if it is illegal. The Court stated, “You cannot take refuge in that order.”
Under the cover of an encroachment removal campaign, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has appealed to the Supreme court to stop the demolition of people’s houses in South Delhi, claiming that it is a complete breach of natural justice principles, statutes, and the constitution.
The Delhi State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), represented by its Secretary, filed a suit before the Supreme Court saying that the South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s (SDMC) action of demolishing buildings of South Delhi residents is very illegal and inhumane.
The authorities have not sent a statutory notice to the owners/occupants of the structures to show cause why the buildings should not be demolished, according to the petition, and no notice has been granted to them as to how the occupants/owners of the buildings intrude.
According to the petitioner, the entire action is completely arbitrary and in violation of Articles 14, 19, and 21. The people residing and working in the notified area are generally very poor and marginalised, and are incapable of resisting the Respondents SDMC and others’ illegal inhumane action, the petition claimed.
If this is allowed, their only shelter and buildings for their livelihood will be demolished in blatant disregard for statutes and the Constitution.
The petitioner further stated that on May 4, officials used bulldozers to demolish structures in the Sangam Vihar neighbourhood. “They have illegally demolished impoverished people’s buildings using bulldozers, causing terrible stress and loss to the residents,” according to the petition.
However, due to the lack of police personnel, the authorities did not complete the demolition drive in Kalindi Kunj as planned, and it is now generally reported that structures in Shaheen Bagh and other neighbourhoods will be demolished from May 9 to 13, 2022, according to the petitioner.
The petitioner has asked the Supreme Court to quash and set aside the SDMC’s notification on the encroachment removal actions programme, and to order the SDMC not to take any action in response to or in furtherance of such notification.
The petitioner also requested that the victims of the civic entities’ illegal demolitions be adequately compensated.