AJIT PRAKASH SHAH, CJ INTRODUCTION

1. The writ petitions have been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking intervention of this Court to rehabilitate and relocate the petitioners who were residing at various slum clusters in the Capital city to a suitable place and providing them alternative land with ownership rights pursuant to demolition of their „jhuggies? (hutments). The subject matter in these four writ petitions revolves around questions of great importance, inter alia, right to shelter of the petitioners and those represented by them on one hand, and, on the other, slum cluster being on „Right of Way? on which basis the agencies of the State seek to oppose them. Therefore, all of them were taken up together for hearing and are being disposed of by this common judgment.

STATE’S POLICY OF RESETTLEMENT OF JHUGGI INHABITANTS

2. Certain background facts, germane to these writ petitions may be noted at the outset. The Government in the year 1990, decided to resettle the then inhabitants of jhuggies in Delhi and a comprehensive survey was conducted by the Civil Supplies Department of Delhi Administration between January and March, 1990, wherein