Delhi: Demolition set to begin on 11 Jun at migrants' camp, AAP hits out at BJP

Former Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi was removed by police from an anti-demolition protest site in Delhi's Kalkaji area on Tuesday. Authorities said she was encouraging residents of the Bhumiheen Camp not to vacate their homes ahead of a scheduled demolition.

Eviction notices by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) have been pasted at houses in the jhuggi-jhopri camp, warning "encroachers" to leave the spot within three days, or face action.

In a post on X, Atishi stated, “I have been detained at Baba Haridas Nagar police station (Jharoda Kalan), 43 km from Kalkaji.”

However, as per a report in the Indian Express, deputy commissioner of police (south-east) Hemant Tiwari clarified, “She has not been detained. She was removed from the site under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act.”

Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act, 1978 states that all persons must comply with reasonable directions given by a police officer in the discharge of their duties under the Act. If someone resists, refuses, or fails to comply, the police officer can remove the person, produce them before a Metropolitan Magistrate, or release them in trivial cases, it says.

According to police officials, Atishi arrived at Bhumiheen Camp while the area was being surveyed ahead of a demolition scheduled for Wednesday. They alleged that she urged residents to stay put despite court orders, prompting authorities to escort her from the spot to prevent unrest.

The demolition follows a Delhi High Court ruling on Friday, which dismissed petitions filed by 417 residents of Bhumiheen Camp, seeking protection from eviction and demolition, along with rehabilitation. The court stated, “Encroachers cannot claim the right to continue occupying public land pending the resolution of their rehabilitation claims under the applicable policy, as this would unduly impede public projects.”

Justice Dharmesh Sharma emphasised that the right to seek rehabilitation is not an absolute constitutional entitlement for encroachers. “Determination of eligibility for rehabilitation is a separate process from the removal of encroachers from public land,” he noted. Limited relief was granted to approximately 30 petitioners.

The Bhumiheen Camp, established nearly three decades ago, has housed migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal. The residents initially approached the court in 2023, alleging that the DDA intended to demolish their homes in an “arbitrary and illegal manner.” The camp has seen demolition drives thrice in the past year — in May and June this year and July 2023.

On 2 June, shortly before a vacation bench of the Delhi HC was to hear fresh pleas to halt the demolition, civic authorities began razing structures at the site in southeast Delhi’s Govindpuri area.

In an earlier post on X in Hindi, Atishi said, "Tomorrow, the BJP is going to run bulldozers over the Bhumiheen Camp. Today, the slum residents there were planning to protest, so the BJP government deployed thousands of police and CRPF personnel. (Delhi chief minister) Rekha Gupta ji: You had said that no slums would be demolished, right? Then why is such a massive police and CRPF force deployed?"

Gupta had on Sunday said the authorities couldn't go against demolition orders issued by the courts and stressed that the displaced residents had been provided accommodation.

The remarks came amid criticism from the AAP over the razing of the Madrasi Camp slum cluster near Barapullah in south Delhi, and similar demolition drives in other parts of the national capital.

With PTI inputs