Uttam Nagar violence: Don’t demolish houses of accused till today’s hearing, Delhi high court tells MCD

NEW DELHI: Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed MCD not to demolish till March 11 the two houses belonging to persons allegedly involved in the Uttam Nagar Holi violence case in which a 26-year-old man was killed.

Several people, including a minor, were apprehended in connection with the killing in southwest Delhi.




"Between now, 4 o'clock, and 10.30 am tomorrow (March 11), when this matter is taken up, nothing should happen. List tomorrow," Justice Amit Bansal told the counsel for MCD while dealing with petitions of two women, Jarina, who is the mother of accused Imran, and Shahnaz, whose juvenile children were questioned by police.

The women moved court seeking directions to protect their residential premises in the JJ Colony from "arbitrary and illegal" demolition.

The counsel appearing for the authorities requested the court to take up the matter on Wednesday. The petitioners' lawyer said that interim protection should be given to the two women in the meantime as their homes could be razed any moment.

On March 8, MCD razed a part of the house belongi-ng to a family of one of the accused, saying it was built on a drain.

According to MCD officials, the corporation was not obligated to give a notice for an anti-encroachment drive.

Jarina, in her petition, said that the demolition of the house of one of the accused by MCD had created an atmosphere of terror and insecurity in the locality, resulting in an apprehension that her house too might be demolished without following the due process of law. The petition said the demolition cannot be used as a punitive measure in criminal cases, and it requires a show-cause notice to the affected persons. It said an opportunity for a hearing should also be provided to those affected, but no such process was followed by the civic agency.

Both the petitioners said that a "purely personal" dispute was maliciously given a communal colour, and certain religious groups and anti-social elements were also threatening them.

According to the petitioners, the violence arose from a "trivial dispute" involving children playing with balloons on Holi that escalated into a scuffle between two neighbouring families. Despite the dispute being essentially personal in nature, certain elements attempted to give the matter a communal colour, thereby escalating tension in the area, the petitioners said. A mob later gathered in the locality and allegedly spread misinformation portraying the incident as a communal attack, they added.

The women alleged that some people forcibly entered houses linked to the accused by breaking locks and doors, vandalised the properties, and set parts of the houses on fire.