Name in the voters’ list need not be mandatory for considering slum dwellers for rehabilitation if they have other documents or proofs to show they have been residing in an area for a long time, the Delhi High Court has told the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar felt that a “holistic” and “realistic” view needed to be taken by the authorities in such matters.
The court’s observation came during the hearing of pleas by 28 slum dwellers residing at Rajiv Camp near NH-24. They had been declared ineligible for rehabilitation by the Delhi government’s urban shelter board on the ground that their names were absent from the 2012 to 2016 voters lists.
The slum dwellers, represented by advocate Robin David, had sought rehabilitation as their homes were demolished on February 9 this year and the land was handed over to the National Highways Authority of India for widening of NH-24. The national highway connects Delhi to Lucknow.
The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board had held the slum dwellers of Rajiv Camp, also represented by advocate Dhiraj Philip, ineligible under its relocation and rehabilitation policy primarily for the reason that their names were not there in the voters lists.
Other documents
Disagreeing with the DUSIB’s decision, the Bench held that 14 out of the 38 people before it were eligible for allotment of flats as per the board’s policy as they had furnished several other proofs of residence, like gas and electricity bills, bank passbooks, driving licences and even voter identity cards.
The Bench had, in its August 1 order, told the DUSIB that “a conclusion has to be drawn on a holistic consideration of the documents” which were required to be filed under the policy and what was produced by the slum dwellers.
