Despite a High Court stay order, the DDA demolished around 200 jhuggis in Delhi’s Jailorwala Bagh area. One affected youth said, “They still came and demolished my home,” as families were left homeless and helpless.
New Delhi: Standing in the broken remains of his house, 19-year-old Krishna said, “Even though the Delhi High Court had given a stay order till September 1, they still came and demolished my home.”
Krishna’s residence was one of the 200 jhuggis demolished during the Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) demolition drive on Monday in North West Delhi’s Jailorwala Bagh JJ Cluster.
It was also one of two homes destroyed despite a court order prohibiting such actions until September 1.
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The stay had been granted to at least 23 families who challenged the DDA’s rehabilitation policy on May 9, arguing that its conditions rendered them ineligible for assistance. A total of 1,100 residents were offered alternative flats in Jailorwala Bagh under the DDA’s in-situ slum rehabilitation project.
During initial hearings, the court found the eligibility criteria arbitrary and granted protection to these homes from demolition until the next hearing on September 1.
These families now plan to file a contempt petition against the DDA for its actions. However, they will have to wait until June 30 when the Delhi High Court resumes after its summer recess.
Krishna’s father, Ramsurat, the sole provider for his family of five, works in the Wazirpur Industrial Area polishing steel utensils. Krishna recently completed his Class 12 board exams and secured a data entry job, but it remains uncertain whether he can continue due to their housing crisis.
Ramsurat said,
“My wife needs surgery; she can barely move. Now our home is gone too. Where will we go? Rent is beyond our means. There’s no roof. Nothing,”
The family, consisting of Ramsurat, his wife, their two sons, and one daughter who is married and lives with her in-laws, has had to rent a single room in nearby Azadpur for Rs 6,000 after salvaging what they could from the rubble.
Rahul, another resident whose home was also demolished despite the stay, lives with his wife and three young children. As the sole breadwinner working as a driver, he expressed the gravity of their loss.
Rahul said,
“We’ve suffered a huge loss our belongings, our shelter, and our dignity are all lost. Today, it’s raining, and we’re sitting right there, in what’s left of our broken house, trying to stay dry under a plastic sheet. We don’t know what to do or where to go now,”
He claimed that the DDA had previously marked their house as ‘ST’, indicating it was safe from demolition. Three days before the demolition, police told residents without a stay order to vacate.
He added,
“But I didn’t leave because I had a valid stay order from the court,”
Rahul recounted,
“Inside, we had a fridge, a cooler, a bicycle for the kids, a bed, books, school copies, clothes everything was crushed under the debris. We’ve only managed to retrieve a few items; most of it is still buried,”
Advocate Anupradha Singh, On May 9, 2025, filed a case for more than 23 families whose homes were threatened with demolition, challenging the DDA’s rehabilitation policy. The contested provisions stated that residents living on the first floor must have a ration card in their name and must have been listed on the voter rolls between 2012 and 2015.
Singh explained,
“We argued that these conditions in the policy were arbitrary and discriminatory. We received a stay order because the court found our arguments valid at this preliminary stage. Once the stay is granted, nobody is allowed to touch the homes until the matter is fully heard,”
All of Singh’s clients received protection from demolition through the court. She emphasized that it was the DDA’s responsibility to verify the legal status of each house.
She stated,
“If they still went ahead and demolished the homes, the entire accountability lies with them,”
Calling the demolition a “serious violation of the court’s stay order,” Singh mentioned that residents would file a contempt of court petition after the summer break that ends on June 30.
In March 2020, the DDA and SPYM (Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses) conducted a survey of the Jailorwala Bagh slum cluster as part of the in-situ slum rehabilitation project. The timing was unfortunate, as many residents were leaving the city due to rising Covid infection rates, job losses, and lockdowns.
Locals claimed that the DDA did not issue any public notice about the survey or hold community meetings with residents. However, the DDA maintained that copies of the DUSIB Policy 2015 were distributed and meetings were held.
Mithoon, a community representative assisting families with their legal struggles for shelter rights, stated,
“We have no idea who chaired these meetings. There are no pictures, no proof, nothing.”
His grandmother, Kela Devi, also lost her home, which she occupied alone in Jailorwala Bagh.
In total, SPYM surveyed 1,425 people, and the DDA’s Claims and Objection Redressal Committee surveyed another 220, totaling 1,645 residents. Those excluded were labeled “ineligible” and directed to appeal to the DDA’s Appellate Authority, which hears cases after rejection. Out of 552 appeals, only 30-35 were approved, and when the files reached the DDA Vice Chairman, that list was further reduced to just 15.
In 2023, Advocate Umesh Kumar filed a petition on behalf of more than 72 families whose homes were not surveyed in 2020 because they were absent during the official survey. This initiated a legal battle lasting over two years.
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The petition raised two main concerns: the timing of the survey during the pandemic when many residents had returned to their hometowns, and the alleged failure to follow proper procedure. According to DDA policy, authorities were required to visit the jhuggi clusters multiple times to ensure that even those temporarily absent were accounted for. However, this procedure was reportedly not followed.
The court is set to hear the matter on September 1.
Kumar asserted that the homes of his clients were demolished despite the matter being sub judice.