Civic administration in Delhi collapsed, political class busy selling slogans: Delhi High Court

'Look at what we have gone through this year. First we had a situation of drought and people were going on fast saying there is no water, then there was flooding and people lost their lives. Then look at this pollution and AQI level,' the bench said.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday came down heavily on authorities for their failure to upgrade the city infrastructure according to people's needs underlining the civic administration had collapsed and the political class was busy "selling slogans".

A bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora remarked that politicians were neither collecting nor spending any money for the city's development and were only spending on freebies which won't build any infrastructure.

The bench further pointed out that the national capital was going through one crisis or the other and during the year, the city had faced drought, floods and severe pollution levels.

"Look at what we have gone through this year. First we had a situation of drought and people were going on fast saying there is no water, then there was flooding and people lost their lives. Then look at this pollution and AQI level," the bench remarked.

It added, "Just look at what the city is going through. It is going from one crisis to another and it requires very serious management."

The court went on to say the political establishment was not hearing the affected parties but only listening to those creating the problem.

"We as the citizens have to take a call whether the city can accommodate 3.3 crore people or not. Do we have the infrastructure for 3.3 crore people or not? That's the fundamental issue which needs to be decided. We cannot be at 3.3 crore population and still grow without the expenditure or infrastructure. We need a huge outlay on expenditure. We don't have it," the bench lamented.

The court went ahead to underscore that politicians were neither collecting money nor spending it.

"They are only spending it on freebies. Freebies will not make your infrastructure; they will only ensure that you remain where you are. Today the only thing the political class is doing is selling slogans and we are buying it," it remarked.

The court was hearing a plea by the residents of JJ cluster Madrasi Camp at Jangpura against the eviction notice while seeking rehabilitation.

The court told the counsel for the petitioners that the area they had occupied was not "according to science" and it would be in their interest to vacate the place and seek rehabilitation.

The matter will be heard on November 29.

Expressing displeasure, the court said the city administration was not performing its duties and the entire burden had fallen on the judiciary.

"We have got a very inefficient system and all the organisations are working in silos. The entire load is coming to the judiciary. We are not supposed to be taking care of drains and unauthorised constructions but half of the day we are doing this which is not our job. This has to be done by the administration," it said.

The Delhi government counsel said the chief secretary held several meetings with officials and fixed responsibility which would reflect in their action taken reports.

The bench, however, said incompetent officials should not be allowed to remain in public service as the public deserved the best as it pays for it.

The court further took exception to the breach of deadlines by the authorities for completing work.

It told the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board counsel that its officials should be careful and warned of directing the chief secretary to use 56(J) of the Central Civil Services (CCS) Pension Rules, 1972 in their matter.

Section 56(j) gives the government the authority to retire government employees prematurely.

The court observed the undertaking in the court had set November 20 as the deadline to carry out the survey ascertaining the people eligible for rehabilitation but the timeline was breached and consequences would follow.

"You can't take us for a ride. You have taken your seniors for a ride that is why we have landed here in this mess. There will be no stretchable timeline in this," it noted.

The bench, while stressing on adherence to deadlines, said, "Your civic administration has collapsed and now you will ensure that courts are also collapsed because you are not complying with the timelines and then we have to relist the matter."

Residents of Madrasi Camp in the Old Barapullah Bridge area are facing eviction to make way for the construction of a new flyover.

In September, the Delhi government's PWD pasted eviction notices in the area, asking locals to vacate their homes but the residents claimed they had lived in the neighbourhood for over 50 years and demanded an alternative site.