JUDGMENT :

Subramonium Prasad, J.

1. The instant contempt petition has been filed to initiate contempt proceedings and punish the Contemnors for violating the Order dated 18.03.2019, passed by this Court in W.P.(C) 11616/2015 titled as Ajay Maken & Ors v. Union of India & Ors., stating that the purported action of the Contemnors in demolishing the jhuggis of the slum dwellers of Netaji Nagar is contrary to the mandate of the aforementioned judgment.

2. The facts, as stated in the instant contempt petition, are that the Petitioner organization, i.e. Jhuggi Jhopri Vikas Samiti, Netaji Nagar is an unregistered organisation of the resident slum dwellers of Netaji Nagar. It is stated that the inhabitants of the Jhuggis are men, women and children who have been residing in the Jhuggis in and around Netaji Nagar Government Housing Complex for decades and are working as domestic help, washermen, ironer(s), drivers, etc. and provide such other services to the residents of Netaji Nagar which houses Government Officers.

3. Material on record discloses that the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Land & Development Office, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi, has given notices to the occupants of the Petitioner Organization. One such notice dated 04.04.2022 reads as under:

"Sub: Vacation of Jhuggi bearing No. 39 at Sarojini Nagar. Sir/Madam, With reference to the survey conducted in year 2018-19, it has been noticed that you have erected the said Jhuggi thereupon. It is an established fact that this is a Govt. of India/ L&DO land and you have unauthorizedly occupied/ encroached upon this Government Land. Further, your jhuggi is not covered under the list of JJ basti/clusters being notified by DUSIB from time to time and hence you are not entitled for any rehabilitation.

2. Being the land owning agency of Government of India, it is hereby informed to vacate the said Govt. land and shift elsewhere within 7 days from the date of issue of this notice, failing which the same will be got evicted forcefully with the help of local police.

3. The notice may be treated as most urgent."

4. It is stated by the Petitioner Organization that this Court vide Order dated 18.03.2019, in Ajay Maken (supra), has laid down various directions and the Contemnors, in gross violation of the said directions, have decided to proceed ahead with the demolition of the Jhuggis. The Petitioner Organization, therefore, submits that action of the Contemnors amounts to willful non-compliance of the directions passed by this Court in Ajay Maken (supra).

5. In the year 2010, a Division Bench of this Court in Sudama Singh v. Government of Delhi, 2010 SCC OnLine Del 612, had laid down the following directions regarding resettlement of jhuggi jhopri dwellers:

“64. It is declared that:

(i) The decision of the respondents holding that the petitioners are on the “Right of Way” and are, therefore, not entitled to relocation, is hereby declared as illegal and unconstitutional.

(ii) In terms of the extant policy for relocation of Jhuggi dwellers, which is operational in view of the orders of the Supreme Court, the cases of the petitioners will be considered for relocation.

(iii) Within a period of four months from today, each of those eligible among the petitioners, in terms of the above relocation policy, will be granted an alternative site as per MPD-2021 subject to proof of residence prior to cut-off date. This will happen in consultation with each of them in a “meaningful” manner, as indicated in this judgment.

(iv) The State agencies will ensure that basic civic amenities, consistent with the rights to life and dignity of each of the citizens in the Jhuggis, are available at the site of relocation.”

6. In pursuance of the said directions, a policy called the Delhi Slum Rehabilitation & Relocation Policy, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as „the DUSIB Policy’) was framed. Under the said Policy, the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (hereinafter referred to as 'DUSIB') designated as the nodal agency fo