Jahangirpuri Demolition | It Was A Routine Exercise, No House/Shop Demolished; Didn't Target Any Community: NDMC To Supreme Court

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) today told the Supreme Court that the Jahangirpuri demolition drive undertaken by it was a routine administrative exercise and it was given an unwarranted communal color by the petitioners.

In an affidavit filed before the Apex Court court through North DMC, Commissioner, the NDMC has submitted that on April 20th, it had only removed unauthorized projections on the public road, and unauthorized temporary structures well beyond the boundary of houses.

Defending its move to remove the abovementioned structures/projections, the NDMC, in its reply, has referred to Sections 320, 321, and 322 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 to contend that it is not necessary to give any notice for the removal of abovementioned structures/projections

Further, it has also been stated in the Affidavit that the entire exercise was undertaken in view of the orders of the High Court of Delhi to ensure freedom of movement for citizens on the streets.

"The Hon'ble Court has time and again issued orders to the Municipal Authorities to clear the right of ways and the footpaths from the encroachments and the Municipal Authorities try to comply the said directions leaving no stone unturned in that direction...Hon'ble High Court has vide orders dated 15.11.2021, 06.04.2022, 12.04.2022 & 02.05.2022 issued various directions for removal of encroachment from the roads and footpaths, etc. since they curtail the right of freedom of movement of citizens."

Regarding the use of bulldozers, the has been submitted that some temporary projections on public road/footpaths are of such nature, for which, a bulldozer is required to be used while exercising powers under Section 322 of the Act.

Accusing the petitioner of deliberately and willfully sensationalizing the matter, the NDMC has stressed in its affidavit that the allegations of particular religion or community being targeted by NDMC is a motivated and unfounded assertion of the petitioner.

"When a road or footpath is cleared, the process goes on from one end to another without any distinction of the religion or owner/ occupier who has unauthorizedly occupied footpath or public road," the Affidavit states.

A bench led by the Chief Justice of India on April 20 had passed a status-quo order on the demolitions after an urgent mentioning was made by Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave in a petition filed by Islamic scholars organization Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind.