Delhi High Court stays eviction of 115 properties in Okhla after residents challenge UP Irrigation Department’s notice. Court seeks response from the department; next hearing set for August 4.
New Delhi: Today, On May 30, The Delhi High Court has given temporary relief to 115 families in Okhla by stopping the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department from evicting or demolishing their homes. This decision came after the affected residents filed a case against the eviction notice issued by the department.
Justice Sachin Datta of the Delhi High Court heard the matter and issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department.
The court has now asked the department to file its reply and listed the case for the next hearing on August 4.
Advocate Dr. Farrukh Khan, who appeared for the petitioners, told the court that the eviction notice was
“arbitrary and illegal, as the department has no title to the land.”
He requested the court to stop the UP authorities and their workers from carrying out any demolition or eviction action against the petitioners’ properties located at Khasra No. 277, Muradi Road, Khizar Baba Colony, Jamia Nagar, Okhla.
The court was informed that the department had issued eviction notices on May 22.
A total of 115 people, including Javed Ahmed, have filed the petition against the State of Uttar Pradesh and the Head Works Division of the Agra Canal in Okhla.
The petition, filed through Advocate Ridhima Goyal, mentions that the authorities plan to demolish and evict the residents from their homes and shops in the area.
Many of these properties are both residential and commercial, and the petitioners say they have been living and doing business there for many years without disturbance.
The residents claim that the government is now trying to take action against them without having any legal ownership of the land.
“Certain demolition, eviction and coercive action is proposed to be taken against properties/premises (commercial, residential, dwelling units) wherein the Petitioners have been residing, occupying, carrying on their business and have been in long and settled possession for more than several years, on account of the said properties/premises allegedly being on the land belonging to the Irrigation Department of the Government of Uttar Pradesh.”
The petition further points out that the State of Uttar Pradesh had earlier filed a civil case titled “State Of Uttar Pradesh v Sh. Arjun & Ors” in 1991.
This case was filed to take back possession of the land measuring 108 Bighas and 17 Biswas in Khasra No. 277, Village Okhla, Tehsil Mehrauli, New Delhi, and to claim mesne profits from the occupants.
However, on December 13, 2005, the civil judge dismissed the case as the UP Government failed to prove its ownership.
the plea said,
“The Government of Uttar Pradesh has miserably failed to produce any ownership/title documents, original or photocopy,”
Later, when the State of UP filed a first appeal against this dismissal, the higher court rejected it on January 13, 2011, and upheld the trial court’s order.
Then, the government filed a second appeal, but even that was dismissed by the Delhi High Court on July 22, 2013.
“Thereby upholding the order passed by the Trial Court.”
The petitioners say that it has been more than 12 years since the last court order, and the UP government has taken no further legal steps to challenge it. Hence, the order has become final and binding.
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Despite this, the UP Irrigation Department issued a new eviction notice on May 22, 2025. These notices were allegedly pasted on the walls of the petitioners’ properties, threatening them with removal and demolition.
The petitioners argue that this recent move is completely unjustified.
“This notice is illegal, unconstitutional and an abuse of the exercise of sovereign power.”
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