HC asks the Add. Solicitor General to be present in Court with instructions of Cabinet Secretary on the limits of restrictions on the use and enjoyment of Property in the vicinity of Ammunition Depot..

In the matter involving restrictions on the use and enjoyment of property within the vicinity of ammunition depot the High Court of Punjab & Haryana, has asked the Add. Solicitor General to be present in the Court No. 1 at 10:00 AM on 25/07/2018, with the instructions of Cabinet Secretary, clearing the position whether the restrictions with regard to the Ammunition Depot, Gurgaon, are up to 300 meters or 900 meters?

On the aforesaid pointed query the counsel appearing for Union of India produced the Affidavit of Station Commander, which reads: 

     After reading the Affidavit the court observed that "the notification of the Govt. can not be conditional" The Court asked the counsel for Union of India to take clear stand. In the first instance the Court was inclined to summon the Cabinet Secretary to be personally present in the Court, but later on asked for the presence of Solicitor General, with clear instructions of the cabinet Secretary.

The residents of the area represented by Advocate Pardeep Rapria have also challenged the Works of Defence Act, 1903, contending that  ‘the petition emanates from the constant fear of losing his living abode and only source of livelihood based on his ancestral land since immemorial time, at the whims and fancies of the multiple authorities functioning under different statutes, poor un-coordinated governance by myriad parallel authorities thus providing fertile ground for malfeasance and resultantly poor quality services to the citizens. The sword/threat of demolition of the home situated on the ancestral land is in violation of human rights and various International Covenants like Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Convention of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Resolution No.1993/77 adopted by Commission of Human Rights titled “Forced Evictions and Human Rights’.

       Mr. Rapria the Petitioner’s counsel argued before the High Court that the Govt. rehabilitate the slum dwellers having constructed their houses on the public land, but the people like petitioner who had constructed their houses on their ancestral land can not be uprooted at the altar of Works of Defence Act the old draconian law of the year 1903, without ensuring respectable rehabilitation of people. Mr. Rapria further contended that ‘Due to significant changes in the ground realities and enactment of subsequent statutes, after passage more than 100 years of passing of the Works of Defence Act, 1903, the antique law has lost its relevance and now the present ground reality is that without ruining the lives more than 25 lakhs citizens’ residing in the vicinity of the Air Force Depot, Gurgaon.

      The residents residing within the restricted zone are being forced to live without electricity and water connection connection. Tomorrow, the court may also decide whether the electricity or water connections should be given to the people residing within the restricted zone. The Maruti Udyog, Police Stations, HUDA and HSIDC, Hotels are also situated withint the restricted zone of ammunition depot.