The judgment established that encroachment on public land does not entitle slum dwellers to demand rehabilitation on the same land or in the vicinity, and criticized the State Government's policy rewarding encroachers with free accommodation.

JUDGMENT :

1. The petitioners, who are three in number, are aggrieved by the public notice dated May 21, 2021 issued by respondent No. 1-the Slum Rehabilitation Authority, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad Area (for short “SRA”), by which the petitioners along with other slum dwellers are sought to be rehabilitated, being affected by the Pune Metro Rail project, undertaken by respondent Nos. 4 and 5.

2. The case of the petitioners is quite peculiar, which is to the effect that the petitioners, who are having their hutments on the Government land (slums), ought to be rehabilitated either on the same land or in the vicinity. At the outset, we must observe that we were quite astonished at such plea. We would, however, certainly examine the tenability of such plea in the following discussion.

3. The relevant facts need be noted :

The petitioners contend that they are residents of ‘Kamgar Putala Zopadpatti Vasahat’, situated on Final Plot No. 806 and 806A, Topkhana, Shivaji Nagar, Pune (for short “the slum land”). Admittedly, this is a slum on the State Government’s land. As the land was encroached by hutments, it came to be notified as a slum under the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971. The petitioners state that under the State’s policy, being slum dwellers, they have a status of being protected occupiers, who would be required to be rehabilitated by allotment of a free of cost permanent alternate accommodation, in case the land below the slum is sought to be utilized for public purpose.

4. The petitioners are also members of a Slum Society known as “Shri Satguru Jangali Maharaj Slum Rehabilitation proposed Co-operative Housing Society”, which in its representative capacity as per the slum development rules, had submitted a proposal to the SRA for redevelopment of the said slum land. The slum society also appointed a developer named ‘Ishwar Constructions Pvt. Ltd.’, to undertake a redevelopment and rehabilitation project on the same land. According to the petitioners, such developer had submitted a proposal to the SRA, however, the project did not commence for certain reasons.

5. The petitioners contend that in the intervening period, that is, sometime in the year 2014, the respondent Nos. 4 and 5 conceived a Metro Rail for Pune. The announcement of the Pune Metro Rail Project was made in the year 2016. In 2019, the petitioners learnt that a metro track from Vanaz to Ramwadi was proposed to pass through the slum land occupied by the petitioners, which was to divide the slum plot into two parts. The slum land was proposed to be used for the metro project. The petitioners contend that the slum dwellers society had opposed passing of the Pune Metro through the slum land, so did the developers. They also suggested realignment of the metro track, however, sans success. The petitioners contend that on these issues the slum society has already approached this Court in Writ Petition No. 8495 of 2019, seeking directions against respondent Nos. 1 to 5 for relocating the proposed Slum Rehabilitation Project within a radius of 2 kms. Such petition is stated to be pending.

6. The petitioners have categorically contended in paragraph 4(k) of the petition that during the pendency of the petition filed by the slum society, the SRA has issued a notification in the month of February, 2021 proposing to relocate the eligible slum dwellers at sites identified at Hadapsar and Viman Nagar. According to the petitioners, such migration from the current residence to Hadapsar and Viman Nagar is prejudicial to their interest, as these sites are quite far away from the present location of the slum land. The petitioners, therefore, raised objections with the SRA. It is their contention that despite such objections, the SRA proceeded and published a notice dated 26 February, 2021 stating it to be the last opportunity being given to the eligible slum dwellers to shift and vacate the slum plot. Thereafter, another notice dated 2