Political and Judicial Failures Undermine Housing Rights

Newsreel Asia Insight #233
May 26, 2024

A recent report revealed that at least 278,796 people lost their homes due to government-ordered evictions in Delhi in 2023, as noted by Article 14. The widespread nature of the evictions demonstrates a critical failure of governing political parties and judicial systems to uphold the right to housing for Delhi’s most vulnerable populations.

Throughout 2023, there were 49 recorded instances of evictions in Delhi, averaging nearly one eviction every week, according to the report by the Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN). The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) played a significant role, demolishing nine night shelters in the Yamuna Pushta and Sarai Kale Khan areas along the banks of the Yamuna River.

The evictions took place mostly in working-class neighbourhoods, with demolitions in areas such as Mehrauli, Punjabi Bagh, Tughlakabad, Priyanka Gandhi Camp and Jamia Nagar.

The government justified the demolitions by citing the need to clear encroachments, conduct a “beautification drive” and conserve the Yamuna floodplains.

Despite a high number of Delhi’s residents living in slums or unauthorised colonies—estimated at 5.7 million—these demolitions were executed without adherence to rehabilitation policies or court directives. Delhi’s slums, home to about 11% of the city’s population, occupy a mere 0.5% of its 1,483 square kilometre area.

Many residents reported not receiving the legally required notices before the demolitions, and in some cases, notices were served as demolition squads arrived. This procedural failure directly contradicts legal requirements for prior notice and rehabilitation plans before carrying out demolitions.

(In a recent short documentary, “What Makes a ‘Home’?”, Newsreel Asia’s Tej Bahadur Singh showed the impact of the demolition on residents of Priyanka Gandhi Camp in Vasant Vihar, Delhi. You can watch it here.)

A significant complication arose in 2022 when a Delhi High Court judgment restricted eligibility for rehabilitation to residents of 675 slums listed by DUSIB and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). This list, based on an initial survey from the early 1990s, did not account for numerous unlisted slums that had emerged since. In 2023, settlements not included in the official list, such as Tughlakabad, Pragati Maidan, and Kasturba Nagar, experienced demolitions without any rehabilitation plans. The largest of these, Tughlakabad, saw a population of 250,000 affected, with residents receiving no prior notice or plans for resettlement.

The HLRN report cited incidents involving violation of multiple human rights of affected persons.

“In Pragati Maidan, bulldozers reached the site reportedly, at 5 a.m. in the morning on 1 June 2023, leaving the affected persons, including women, children, and older persons, no time to collect their belongings and make alternative arrangements,” says the report.

“In several sites, such as Priyanka Gandhi Camp, Tughlakabad, and Nanakpura, the rubble left after the demolition was collected during and immediately after the eviction, and families were prevented from salvaging the remnants of their home for reconstruction. The use of disproportionate force was also reported in sites like Mehrauli, and Tughlakabad, where people were prevented from congregating or leaving their homes.”

Despite promises made by major political parties – including the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party – in their February 2020 election manifestos to provide slum-dwellers with “pucca housing for dignified living conditions” through the Jahan Jhuggi Wahan Makan initiative, these commitments were not upheld, Article 14 noted.

Across the country, authorities at the local, state and central levels demolished over 107,449 homes, forcefully evicting over 515,752 people from their homes, in 2023, according to HLRN. And 82% of those evicted received no resettlement, reflecting the disconnect between political promises and on-the-ground realities. 

In the Sudama Singh & Others vs Government of Delhi & Anr, the Delhi High Court in 2010 said it is the State’s constitutional and statutory obligation to ensure that no jhuggi dweller is forcibly evicted and relocated without meaningful engagement. The judgment underlined the right to housing as part of the constitutional framework.

Several other court judgments, including those from the Supreme Court of India and state high courts, have upheld the right to housing or shelter as an inalienable component of the fundamental right to life, HLRN noted in its report.

Despite these judgments, it’s difficult for those suffering forced evictions to benefit from this right because courts are hesitant to provide the protection and relief they prescribe, Article 14 added.

For example, in the case of the Tughlakabad demolition, the Supreme Court directed the Archaeological Survey of India to remove unauthorised constructions, thus failing to protect the housing rights of the affected individuals.

HLRN’s recommendations include: “Impose an immediate national moratorium on forced evictions and home demolitions… Recognise and list all informal settlements as legitimate clusters of housing to remove connotations of ‘illegality’ and ‘encroachment,’ that adversely affects the residents and results in forced evictions. Strictly ensure that demolitions are not used by state authorities against communities as a means of meting out summary justice or punishment.”