In a relief to hundreds of people being evicted from their makeshift homes in East Bengaluru, the high court on Wednesday ordered an interim stay on the demolition drive.
A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay S Oka directed the BBMP and the police to submit a detailed report explaining the grounds and rules under which the labourers' sheds were demolished.
The court is hearing a PIL petition filed by the People's Union for Civil Liberties against the eviction of people in Kariyammana Agrahara, Devarabeesanahalli, Kundalahalli and Bellandur.
The human rights body stated in the petition that the people living in these areas were poor and had migrated from Raichur and Hubballi-Dharwad in North Karnataka as well as from Assam, Bihar and Tripura.
"They had been living there for over 10 years now, working as housemaids and daily-wage labourers. But the BBMP and the police are evicting them, calling them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh," the petitioner said.
Seeking a stay on the demolition drive and action against the errant officials, the petitioner urged the court to order the authorities to compensate the evicted inhabitants.