Burari residents take to streets to protest demolition orders: ‘Lived here for years’

The land in question, two acres, where there are around 1,000 homes now has been mired in a legal dispute for decades — a fact residents claimed they were unaware of.

The land owner in the case, Shobhat Ram, migrated from Montgomery (now Sahiwal district) in Pakistan to Delhi in 1947 and sought alternate land under the Displaced Person (Compe-nsation and Rehabilitation) Act in 1954. While he received some land in Punjab Khor as partial satisfaction of his claim, a balance of 2 acres and 11 agricultural units remained unallocated. In 1961, this land was granted to his son Ram Chander in Jharoda Majra.

Chander then petitioned the court, arguing that the land was too remote for his family to maintain and that he never gained physical possession of it. In 1995, the Burari allocation was cancelled and a different parcel of land was allotted in Mehrauli. Chander got the land mutated in his name and began farming. However, the Mehrauli allocation was cancelled in 1999 and the Burari allocation reinstated. In 2016, Chander’s grandson, Neeraj, filed a writ petition contending his family had still not received possession of the 2 acres in Burari.

According to residents, they had purchased land from local agriculturists and settled in the area as far back as 1985. A month ago, they said the Land and Building Department began putting up eviction notices.

Gautam Nand Shah (57), a shopping bag manufacturer, said he has lived in the area since 1997. “We were caught off guard (by the notices). We knew a case had been going on since 1999 but didn’t know our houses came within that land,” he said.

Court documents reveal orders to evict trespassers and regain possession were issued in 2019. The Land and Building department sought extensions but residents claim they did not notify them until a month ago.

“We have government connections for electricity and water in our houses. Didn’t they know then that there was a legal dispute?” said BB Singh (57), a former MTNL employee.

Residents appealed against their eviction earlier this year, but the High Court did not grant a stay order.

In the meantime, Neeraj filed a contempt petition in the High Court, represented by Advocate Varun Phogaat, over his land. The High Court set a deadline of October 13 for the Land and Building Department to complete demarcation and hand over possession. On November 9, residents woke up to fresh eviction notices.

Shah said, “We’ll fight them tooth and nail.”

According to Jharoda Majra councillor and High Court advocate Gagan Choudhary, “We plan on going to the High Court on November 16 for a stay order. According to the law, if a piece of government land goes unclaimed for over 20 years, then it goes to the occupier. People have been living here for the last 30-35 years.”

He also alleged Neeraj and the Land and Building department concealed from the courts that settlements had come up on the contested land as far back as 1985.

The Indian Express reached out to Neeraj and his family through their lawyer, who did not comment on the case. The Land and Building Department was not available for comment.