Report VIII
INVESTIGATION REPORT INTO HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION OF 300 POOR
JHUGGI DWELLERS IN CHANDIGARH ON DECEMBER 22, 2001
Chandigarh.
January 14, 2002
The Organisation received an information from some Jhuggi dwellers
of Gur Sagar Colony, village Kaimbwala, U.T. Chandigarh on December
22, 2001 that the Chandigarh Administration at the instance of
some politicians have forcibly demolished 300 jhuggis from the
village land in Gursagar Colony, village Kaimbwala, Union Territory
of Chandigarh leaving a trail of destruction and making more than
One thousand poor people shelterless in chilling cold of December.
A team was constituted headed by the President, Mr.Amar Singh
Chahal accompanied by Mr.Arunjeev Singh Walia, General Secretary,
Mr.Tejinder Singh Sudan, Chandigarh District President, Mr.Sukhdip
Singh Sandhu, Mr.Arvind Sandhu, Mr.Yogesh Goel, Mr.Mohinder Singh,
Mr.Manpreet Singh Chahal, Mr.P.K.S.Gill to investigate into the
incident. The team visited the spot in village Kaimbwala, Administrators
residence in Sector 2, Chandigarh, village Maloya, Union Territory,
Chandigarh and met many affected persons and also senior police
and administrative officers involved in the incident.
Facts:
A huge piece of land of village Kaimbwala under the ownership
of village Panchayat was unauthorisedly occupied by two politicians
namely,Mr.Gurnam Singh Sidhu and Mrs. Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, former
Chief Minister of Punjab for the last many years. The administration
had not taken any action against them, inspite of the fact that
these two politicians had unauthorisedly rented out the said land
to migrant labourers from U.P. and Bihar where they had also constructed
permanent structures and living in a colony under the nose of
the Chandigarh Administration. During investigation, it also came
to the notice of the team that many tenants were also paying monthly
rent to the above named two persons against receipts which they
were not authorised to accept. Earlier also, a dispute arouse
between one of them and the jhuggi dwellers and a criminal case
is pending against the said politician in a court at Chandigarh.
Inspite of having full information and knowledge of the illegal
practises being carried on by the two politicians on a prime village
land in the periphery of Chandigarh, the Chandigarh Administration
turned a blind eye to the violations for the reasons best known
to it. Suddenly on December 22, 2001 when the Punjab & Haryana
High Court was closed for winter holidays, the Chandigarh Administration
under the supervision of Sub-Divisional Magistrate (South), Gyaneshwar
Bharti razed to ground more than 300 Jhuggis with bulldozers and
enforcement staff at the instance of the above named persons because
some of the jhuggi dwellers had stopped paying rent to them. The
two politicians named above reportedly deposited a sum of Rs.45,000/-
with the administration for removing the Jhuggi dwellers. The
jhuggi dwellers were not served any notice of demolition by the
administration, nor given any time to remove their belongings.
More than one thousand persons including ladies, old persons and
small children have been rendered homeless with no place of shelter
in chilling winter days only to please the politicians. Two small
children died due to severe cold the same night.
More than five hundred affected persons including women and children
tried to meet the Administrator of Chandigarh to plead for justice
on December 22, 2001, but were prevented by the Chandigarh Police
from meeting him. On December 23, 2001 a representation was given
in representative capacity by the affected persons to the Hon’ble
Mr.Justice R.L.Anand, who ordered status quo on the site in dispute
till 2, January 2002 and issued notice to Chandigarh Administration
in the meantime. Later on the petition was treated as Public Interest
Litigation and heard by a division bench of High Court of Punjab
& Haryana comprising Mr.Justice G.S.Singhvi and Mrs.Bakhshish
Kaur. On the orders of the Court, a team of doctors visited the
place of demolition to provide free medical treatment to the ailing
persons on January 7, 2002. On the orders of the High Court, the
Chandigarh Administration agreed on January 8, 2002 to provide
temporary place in village Maloya, Union Territory, Chandigarh,
where the affected persons can save themselves from the extreme
cold. But the investigation team which inspected this site in
village Maloya found four tents with badly damaged roofs where
air and rainy water could easily pass through it. The ground of
the site was filled with malba of waste material like bricks,
cement and sand. Half of the place was stinking with garbage.
It was not fit for even animal existence, what to say of living
by human beings. There was no provision of toilets and water taps,
but one temporary water tanker was placed by the administration
on the site. As per the investigation team, the affected persons
refused to take possession of the alternative temporary site and
choose to live at the old place where they were rendered homeless.
It was because they could try to save themselves from cold and
rain in the remains of the demolished jhuggis better than the
alternative site.
In the considered view of the investigating team, it is a clear
case of gross violation of human rights of the displaced poor
people including small children and old men and women. The Chandigarh
Administration has committed illegality and blunder by acting
at the instance of two politicians and razing three hundred jhuggis
to the ground without giving any notice of removal, rendering
about thousand people homeless in the chilling winter. The administration
should give a better alternative and permanent site for rehabilitation
of the affected persons keeping in view the human rights of the
displaced poor persons. The organisation also recommends the holding
of a high level enquiry by an independent agency like CBI to find
out how and under what circumstances the two politicians unauthorisedly
occupied the prime government land and thereafter rented out the
said place to hundreds of jhuggi dwellers and started collecting
rent from them without paying even a penny to the Chandigarh Administration
which is the owner of the village land. The financial loss so
caused in the illegal action must be recovered from the delinquent
officers of the administration and penal action should be taken
against the two politicians and the officials responsible for
the demolition of the jhuggis without notice at the instance of
the two politicians.
ACTION TAKEN BY LHRI
Our organisation provided free legal aid to the victims to file
a Public Interest Litigation in the Punjab & Haryana High
Court. The High Court ordered the U.T. administration to make
interim arrangement for the rehabilitation of the victims which
have been complied by the administration. The Petition is pending
at the argument stage in the High Court.
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