Senior Advocate Arun Bhardwaj, appearing for the petitioners, informed the Bench at the outset that despite an earlier assurance that the flats will be ready for possession by April 30, the situation has not changed.
“They sleep under tarpaulin sheets and faced wrath of winter and will now face vagaries of summer. Municipal Corporation of Faridabad has to submit when will the flats be ready and what will be the deadline of final handover and what is the outer limit. We don’t want to be there without drinking water or drainage facilities,” he submitted.
Counsel for the State authorities submitted that 1,022 eligible persons will be provided permanent allotment by end of April 2022 in habitable conditions.
Taking note of some other concerns expressed, the Bench in its order stated,
“We were also informed that the plot where unauthorised structures were removed is being misused by locals. We direct Faridabad Superintendant of police to ensure that there is no encroachment or mis-utilisation of the plot in the future … the forest dept may issue appropriate directions to ensure plantation of suitable trees in the area.“
The Supreme Court in June 2021 had refused to halt the demolition of over 10,000 settlements housing over 1 lakh people at Khori Gaon in Faridabad district, Haryana for encroachment of forest land.
A Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari had passed the order in a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking stay on the demolition.
However, the Court had also asked the State authorities to provide provisional accommodation to those evicted until the new housing facility for them is ready.
Source: Barandbench
