Indian Express 08.01.2010
Restore night shelter for poor: High Court
New Delhi:
A Division Bench of Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw directed the Delhi Legal Services Authority to inspect the said night shelter and file a report by January 13. The Bench also issued a notice to the Delhi government counsel Meera Bhatia, seeking their response in the matter.
“The MCD is directed to put up the tent during the course of the day,” the Bench said, adding the MCD must take a “humanistic view” towards people living there.
The court, however, said it would not allow the encroachment to exist further and told the NGOs, which had put the temporary shelter for nearly 250 homeless people, to make the arrangements for 15 days only.
Rakesh Mehta, Assistant MCD Commissioner of Karol Bagh zone, assured the court that the shelter would be restored for the homeless, including children, for another 15 days.
The Bench also directed him to explore the possibilities to accommodate the people in any other night shelter in the Capital.
MCD counsel Maninder Acharya told the Bench that an alternative site has been marked to shift the homeless people of the area, about one km away from the Pusa Road roundabout.
“Despite the fact that they were told to shift, they are not moving from the place,” Acharya said.
