HC tells probe panel not to take action till June 16

On Thursday,a Bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud felt that prima facie there were judicial orders which had decided the fate of the redevelopment scheme. The court said it would like to give the state another opportunity to examine whether the stay on the eviction of the slumdwellers can continue.

Their petition stated that the letter of intent (LoI) was issued to the society in 2004 and the Collector (suburban) had issued an eviction order on April 4,2010. The order was contested by 179 slumdwellers before the Divisional Commissioner (Konkan),who did not grant them relief. Thereafter,they challenged the order in the Bombay HC that dismissed the petition in September 2010,holding that the LoI had been approved by majority of slumdwellers of the area. Subsequent challenge to the HC’s order was also dismissed by the SC.

The GKCHS had contended that the government had on May 28 appointed a committee led by retired Justice Hosbet Suresh only because Patkar and her supporters were observing a nine-day fast to oppose the redevelopment. They also stated that the members of the committee — retired Justice Hosbet Suresh and activist Simpreet Singh — could not be expected to be objective in their approach as they had participated in similar agitations by slumdwellers.

Government counsel G W Mattos,however,told the court that the panel’s recommendations were not before the government yet and the objections were premature.