An advocate in his petition before a bench of justices B D Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva said the matter is urgent as the displaced residents of Shakur Basti here need to be allocated permanent space immediately apart from the temporary rehabilitation programme being carried out by the concerned authorities.
Petitioner advocate Prem Pal Singh said the plea filed yesterday by a Congress leader had only sought rehabilitation of the people, who were rendered homeless in biting cold. He prayed for institution of a SIT probe into the incident and compensation to be paid to them as deemed appropriate by the court.
The petitioner said like the high court had asked Railway General Manager, Delhi Chief Secretary, Delhi government and Delhi Police Commissioner to file affidavits as to what made them evict the slum dwellers in such an inhumane manner, it should also call for a response from Central Reserve Police Force and Railway Police, which gave protection for the exercise.
An anti-encroachment demolition drive by the Railways on December 12 at Shakur Basti left a six-month-old child dead and thousands of people homeless on the coldest night of the season.
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The court had on a plea by Congress leader Ajay Maken yesterday sought a response with regard to the steps taken by various government authorities for making alternative arrangements for those who have been evicted.
A bench of justices S Muralidhar and Vibhu Bakhru had termed it a "pathetic act" as "peoples' lives are involved and we cannot be so casual".
Maken, has sought in his plea that the Railway Ministry and Delhi police be restrained from carrying out any further eviction or harassment of people living in Shakur Basti until appropriate rehabilitation has been provided.