New Delhi: Supreme court on Friday ordered Faridabad Municipal Corporation No To Excessive illegal farmhouse, commercial establishment Contains hotels and religious structures Aravalli forest area During the ongoing drive to remove all encroachments including settlements in and around Khori village area.
The Faridabad Municipal Corporation (FMC), through Additional Advocate General Arun Bhardwaj, informed a bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari that the six-week deadline given by the SC on June 7 for removal of all illegal structures in the forest land should go smoothly. and one acre out of 75 150 acres of encroached forest land has been cleared from all encroachments.
However, he added that the six-week deadline needed to be extended due to the peculiar nature of the work and the complexities involved. The bench agreed to give four more weeks to the FMC to complete the work.
On this occasion, Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves told the court on RTI information received by IAS officer Ashok Khemka regarding existence of large number of farm houses, commercial establishments including large number of farm houses, hotels and religious structures inside the forest land around Khori village. attracted attention. “The eviction law should apply equally to the poor and the rich, and there should be no public perception that the poor settlers were evicted while the rich live in luxurious farmhouses,” he said.
The bench said that the order is equally applicable to all types of encroachments on forest land. “It need not be seen that the order for removal of all unauthorized structures shall apply to all illegal structures without exception, including those already identified by Haryana Forest Minister Kanwar Pal. It (removal) has been extended for an extended period of time. (of four weeks)”, the bench said.
Importantly, the court allowed residents of Khori village to make representations for amendments to the draft Rehabilitation Policy 2021 prepared by the FMC. The earlier resettlement policy had set a cutoff date of 2003 for residents of Khori village to claim resettlement relief by the government. The previous policy envisaged that those who had proof of residence in Khori village before 2003 would be entitled to alternative accommodation.
The Supreme Court asked the FMC to consider the representation of villagers on amendments to the 2021 resettlement policy within seven days and notify the final policy by July 31 to enable villagers to challenge the validity of the new policy. Supreme Court.
Appearing for some other Khori villagers, senior advocate Sanjay Parikh complained to the court that though the houses were being demolished, the FMC was not providing temporary shelter to the affected even during the monsoon period, leading to large numbers of people. People suffered a lot. FMC’s counsel submitted that the corporation is providing them temporary shelter and facilities. The SC allowed residents to approach the commissioner of FMC with complaints and asked officials to show cause in every case where temporary shelter and other facilities were not being provided to the evicted.
However, the bench said that it would not be possible for the FMC to give advance notice of eviction to the villagers, as the counsel for the FMC submitted that the area is sensitive and untoward incidents are notified when a specific date for demolition drive is notified in a particular area. May be. . “Every villager, whose house is on forest land, has been told time and again that the SC passed the order on June 7 that they will be evicted. Every villager knows that they will be evicted. There will be no need to give additional notice,” Bharadwaj said.
The Faridabad Municipal Corporation (FMC), through Additional Advocate General Arun Bhardwaj, informed a bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari that the six-week deadline given by the SC on June 7 for removal of all illegal structures in the forest land should go smoothly. and one acre out of 75 150 acres of encroached forest land has been cleared from all encroachments.
However, he added that the six-week deadline needed to be extended due to the peculiar nature of the work and the complexities involved. The bench agreed to give four more weeks to the FMC to complete the work.
On this occasion, Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves told the court on RTI information received by IAS officer Ashok Khemka regarding existence of large number of farm houses, commercial establishments including large number of farm houses, hotels and religious structures inside the forest land around Khori village. attracted attention. “The eviction law should apply equally to the poor and the rich, and there should be no public perception that the poor settlers were evicted while the rich live in luxurious farmhouses,” he said.
The bench said that the order is equally applicable to all types of encroachments on forest land. “It need not be seen that the order for removal of all unauthorized structures shall apply to all illegal structures without exception, including those already identified by Haryana Forest Minister Kanwar Pal. It (removal) has been extended for an extended period of time. (of four weeks)”, the bench said.
Importantly, the court allowed residents of Khori village to make representations for amendments to the draft Rehabilitation Policy 2021 prepared by the FMC. The earlier resettlement policy had set a cutoff date of 2003 for residents of Khori village to claim resettlement relief by the government. The previous policy envisaged that those who had proof of residence in Khori village before 2003 would be entitled to alternative accommodation.
The Supreme Court asked the FMC to consider the representation of villagers on amendments to the 2021 resettlement policy within seven days and notify the final policy by July 31 to enable villagers to challenge the validity of the new policy. Supreme Court.
Appearing for some other Khori villagers, senior advocate Sanjay Parikh complained to the court that though the houses were being demolished, the FMC was not providing temporary shelter to the affected even during the monsoon period, leading to large numbers of people. People suffered a lot. FMC’s counsel submitted that the corporation is providing them temporary shelter and facilities. The SC allowed residents to approach the commissioner of FMC with complaints and asked officials to show cause in every case where temporary shelter and other facilities were not being provided to the evicted.
However, the bench said that it would not be possible for the FMC to give advance notice of eviction to the villagers, as the counsel for the FMC submitted that the area is sensitive and untoward incidents are notified when a specific date for demolition drive is notified in a particular area. May be. . “Every villager, whose house is on forest land, has been told time and again that the SC passed the order on June 7 that they will be evicted. Every villager knows that they will be evicted. There will be no need to give additional notice,” Bharadwaj said.
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