The Centre Tuesday told the Supreme Court that deliberations on the issue related to removal of around 48,000 slum dwellings along the railway tracks in Delhi were going on and no coercive action would be taken against them.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that he had made a statement before the apex court on September 14 that authorities are going to take a decision on the issue and till then no coercive action would be taken against these slum dwellers.
“The deliberations are going on. We are not taking any coercive steps,” Mehta told the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.
The bench, while taking note of Mehta’s submission, said it would hear the matter after four weeks.”Solicitor General states that government is deliberating on the issue. Stand over for four weeks,” the bench said.
The top court on August 31 had directed the removal of around 48,000 slum dwellings along the railway tracks in Delhi within three months and said there shall not be any kind of political interference in execution of the plan.
On September 14, Mehta had told the top court that Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Delhi Government are going to take a decision on the issue and till then they will not take any coercive action against the slum dwellers residing along the around 140 km railway tracks in the national capital.
The apex court is hearing the applications, including the one filed by senior Congress leader Ajay Maken who has sought rehabilitation of these slum dwellers prior to their removal.