The court affirmed the right to safe habitation under Article 21, ordered demolition and reconstruction of unsafe residential structures, upheld residents' rights to common areas, and ruled against the DDA's claim to construct additional flats without consent.

JUDGMENT

23.12.2024

MINI PUSHKARNA, J:

PROLOGUE:

1. The present cases are one of their kinds that bring to the fore shocking facts regarding the apathy displayed by the Delhi Development Authority (“ DDA ”) in getting residential towers constructed under the DDA Housing Scheme, which started displaying signs of deterioration within a short span of their disposal and occupation by the residents. Such delinquency and gross negligence by the DDA is unpardonable, as the same has put lives of hundreds of residents therein, to great risk and danger. The residential towers constructed by the DDA have been found to be unfit for habitation by structural experts upon detailed examination and investigation, and have been declared as dangerous. Despite extensive repair work, the degeneration and dilapidation of the structures could not be prevented on account of the poor qualityof construction.

2. The facts on record establish structural defects and flaws in the construction of the apartments in question, making them structurally unsafe. Wide and deep cracks have developed in the beams, columns and pillars of the structures. There is corrosion and rusting of the steel bars, with deterioration in the reinforced concrete with heavy corrosion. Incidents of falling of interior ceilings of roofs of the flats, and falling of large lumps of exterior plaster, have been reported continuously. The avid object of Right to Life and Right to Live with Dignity, as embodied in Article 21 of the Constitution of India, has been infracted with impunity, on account of the callousness and dereliction of the DDA .

3. The present cases accentuate the disregard shown by the DDA of its welfare purposes, for which it was established for the development of Delhi. The facts on record underscore the laxity by the DDA in discharging its public functions enshrined under the statute, wherein, ordinary citizens have been put in a perilous situation, on account of substandard and inferior construction of residential towers by DDA .

4. Since the residential towers have been declared as unfit for habitation and dangerous, the present cases deal with the various issues inter-alia regarding the demolition of the residential towers, their reconstruction and rehabilitation of the residents in the interregnum.

INTRODUCTION:

5. The present petitions pertain to Signature View Apartments, Mukherjee Nagar, New Delhi, a residential complex developed by the DDA over a plot of land measuring 2.83 hectares (“ha”) of land.

5.1 W.P.(C) 14960/2023 has been filed seeking demolition and reconstruction of the flats and blocks (towers) on account of the dilapidated condition of the flats. It is further prayed that the authority, i.e. DDA , not be allowed to construct anyextra or additional flats on the existing land.

5.2 W.P.(C) 6850/2024, has been filed challenging Clause VII and X of the Rehabilitation Offer Letter dated 26th June, 2023, to the extent that evacuation and demolition will only be conducted if all the residents provide a No Objection Certificate (“NOC”) from a bank/financial institution regarding encumbrances on any of the property, and that rent/compensation for alternate accommodation shall only be given to the residents only after all residents hand over the possession of the flats. The same is sought on the ground that the conditions in the said Clauses are illegal and arbitrary, and 70% of flat owners, i.e. 250 out of 336 flats, have already given their consent.

5.3 W.P.(C) 3760/2024 has been filed by one resident of the Signature View Apartments, thereby chal