Mumbai: Bombay High Court has upheld an April 2021 order of the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) that recommended a Rs 1 lakh compensation to be paid by Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) to a resident of Jogeshwari for alleged violation of human rights by demolishing his structure without a notice, even if it was an “unauthorised tenement”. The HC, citing a Supreme Court order, underscored that the right to shelter is an integral part of Article 21 of the Constitution— right to life and liberty, which can be taken away only by following due process of law.The SC said last year in a Uttar Pradesh case that residential structures of citizens cannot be demolished in such a summary manner without giving the alleged unauthorised tenement’s owner a right to be heard, and stressed on the importance of issuance of a show-cause notice.The HC said Mhada’s action was contrary to the settled principles of law. “The action of demolition taken without following the due process is held to be completely illegal and violative of right to shelter,” Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande held after observing that a report submitted by the authority of Mhada itself said that since Sujeet Shukla—who filed the complaint before the SHRC—”was in unauthorised possession, there was no question of issuing any notice”.Mhada said the land in Oshiwara was theirs and it had given an NOC to the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) to implement a rehab scheme and a scheme called the Adarsh Nagar Colony in Jogeshwari West was implemented for Economically Weaker Sections. Mhada said an unauthorised tenement was constructed on the DP road and since it had undertaken a “demolition drive”, no notice was necessary.The SHRC said Mhada ought to take action against “responsible officers” and initiate a sensitisation programme to follow rules while demolishing illegal structures and follow “law of right to shelter”.The HC found nothing arbitrary or unreasonable in the SHRC’s recommendation and findings and added, “it is settled law that even a trespasser or an encroacher, can be evicted only after following due process of law. This finding cannot be faulted with.”
