"They cannot afford rents:" Supreme Court halts demolition of jhuggis in Sarojini Nagar

The Supreme Court on Monday stopped the demolition of around 200 jhuggis at Delhi's Sarojini Nagar, and asked the Central government to not take any coercive action till May 2 [Vaishali (Minor) (Through Next Friend Mrs. Sita Devi) v Union of India]..A bench of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy issued notice and granted stay in a petition that challenged an order of the Delhi High Court refusing to pass directions for rehabilitation of slum dwellers at Sarojini Nagar whose jhuggis (slum houses) are being demolished.The bench emphasised that a modern government should not throw the petitioners out of their houses but should engaged with them, "You say that you have to vacate the land. Now these people have come from all over the country and they cannot afford rates (for rent) elsewhere. As a modern government you cannot say you will throw them out. You have to engage willingly," the bench remarked. .Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that thousands of people who have nowhere to go, could not simply be banished by demolishing their shelter. "There has to be some scheme. Board exams are starting from tomorrow and the petitioners are students milords. There are precedents that they have to be rehabilitated," he argued..Counsel appearing for the Delhi government said that the slum-dwellers must be protected as they are covered under the jhuggi protection scheme..The Court remarked that it would not be fair to grant protection to the petitioners alone while permitting the authorities to evict others who have not approached the Court. This was after a contention was raised by the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) KM Nataraj seeking action against the petitioners for espousing everyone's cause under the garb of a public interest litigation (PIL) petition."Should it be that only 2 persons be protected and others are not protected? See in one week that order applies to the two and not others. Will you conduct this exercise, and then do the demolition? This is a trick submission," Justice Hrishikesh Roy observed..The appellants had moved the top court against the order of the High Court as it effectively allowed the demolition of slums and eviction of the slum-dwellers without any alternate arrangements having been made for them.The matter was mentioned on Friday before Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, who agreed to list it on Monday.While Senior Counsel Singh expressed apprehension that demolitions might happen on Monday and a status quo should be allowed, no such order was passed at the time..The petition was filed through Advocate on Record Nitin Saluja and Advocate Aman Panwar. .Read more details about the petition here. .[Read our live coverage of today's hearing]