The right to shelter must be protected, and authorities must ensure basic amenities for relocated individuals and animals.

JUDGMENT

Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)

1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

2. The case of the Petitioner- Keshaw Sanyasi Gawo Shewasharam is that it is a registered trust and is running a cow shelter and mandir at Bhairon Marg. The challenge of the Petitioner in the instant petition is to the impugned notice of eviction bearing no. S23 (ROAD)/S.B.A. MANDAL M- 321/166 dated 28th January, 2023 issued by the Public Welfare Department which reads as under:

"All you slum dwellers Bhairo Marg, Opposite Gate No.1, Pragati Maidan are informed to voluntarily demolish your slum within 15 days of information phase, otherwise, your slum will be removed with the help of police and Will be sent to the shelter home (Dwarka, Geeta Colony) identified by the Delhi Urban Improvement Shelter Board (DUSIB), in which the maximum period of stay will be 03 months."

3. It is the case of the Petitioner that it is involved in taking care and looking after old, ailing, and abandoned cows in a Gaushala. The Gaushala of the Petitioner is situated upon the land in respect of which the impugned notice dated 28th January, 2023 has been issued by Respondent No.2.

4. It is the case of the Petitioner that the said Gaushala has been existing on the said land for the past 15 years. The Petitioner has electricity connection installed, and the Aadhaar card of the Chairperson of the Petitioner has been issued in respect of the said premises only.

5. It is the submission of the ld. Counsel for the Petitioner that the impugned notice has been issued without any show cause notice or providing any hearing to the Petitioner.

6. Ld. counsel for the Respondents, including ld. Counsel for DUSIB, have entered appearance. Mr. Chauhan, ld. Counsel for the DUSIB, upon a specific query from the Court as to whether the JJ cluster at Bhairon Marg is a notified cluster under the Policy or not, states that the Petitioner's jhuggi cluster does not belong to notified clusters, which are 675 and 82 in number.

7. Mr. Chauhan, ld. Counsel, also relies upon the recent order passed by this Court in W.P.(C) 1386/2023 titled Kash Ram v. Public Works Department, GNCTD where the Court had directed demolition of jhuggis in the Dhaula Kuan area, subject to certain conditions.

8. Heard. It is now the settled position in law that until and unless the jhuggi clusters are duly notified, stay on demolition would not be feasible.

9. This position of law has recently been reiterated by this Court in Shakarpur Slum Union v. DDA, [W.P.(C) 6779/2021, decision dated 2nd August, 2022,] wherein the Court held as under:

"37. This Court while dealing with Ajay Maken (supra) and Sudama Singh (supra) never gave any licence to any person to encroach upon Government property. However, this Court is dealing with a human problem and right to shelter has been described as right which has to be protected by Courts especially for those who will have no place to go with their family and belongings if they are faced with mid-night demolitions. In order to ameliorate the human problem, this Court in Sudama Singh (supra) had directed that the State Government must formulate a comprehensive protocol to ensure that persons who have encroached upon Government lands are not rendered shelter-less and, therefore, a rehabilitation policy has to be brought out to rehabilitate those persons. It was in pursuance of that judgment that DUSIB was made the nodal agency for rehabilitation of the persons living in JJ clusters. Parameters were laid down as to who would be entitled to the benefit of the DUSIB Policy. The judgment of this Court in Ajay Maken (supra) cannot be interpreted to mean clusters not identified by the DUSIB would be entitled to rehabilitation.

XXX

42. Resultantly, the instant writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the DDA to carry out further demolition only in consultation with the DUSIB. The DDA is further directed to give sufficient time to the dwellers to make alternate arrangements or