The Jan Sangarsh Manch (JSM) filed a contempt of the court petition against the state government and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in the Gujarat High Court on Monday. It has accused the two of violating the Supreme Court orders staying slum

demolitions in Ahmedabad and maintaining the 1995 cut-off date for rehabilitating the displaced people.

According to the JSM petition, the respondents have committed deliberate and willful disobedience of the court orders and therefore appropriate action under Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act is required to be taken against them.

The SC had ordered a stay on demolition of slums in Ahmedabad in January this year despite which seven slums that had 670 hutments were demolished with no alternative rehabilitation. Moreover, the AMC standing committee had decided to go back to 1976 as a cut-off date against the court order to restore 1995 for the same.

The petition also said that despite having passed the resolution whereby the cut-off date for providing alternative accommodation was altered from 1976 to 1995, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, in contravention of its own resolution, continued eviction and demolition of the hutments which existed prior to 1995.

High Court Advocate S H Iyyer said, “The AMC changed the cut-off date without taking petitioners into confidence, which the SC had clearly instructed to do. The AMC passed Resolution No 265 on June 18 this year making 1976 as the cut-off.

The SC had instructed the state government to take final decision on the cut-off issue after talking to the AMC, petitioners and the affected people within four months of receiving the order. But there was no initiative from the government’s side and the AMC passed orders taking liberty.”

... contd.