Khori village: SC asks Faridabad civic body to address grievances

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday told the Faridabad municipal corporation that
grievances raised by those who have got provisional allotment under the rehabilitation scheme
for eligible applicants of Khori village, where unauthorised structures coming under the Aravali
forest area were demolished, must be addressed if they are doable.
A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari was informed by senior advocate
Sanjay Parikh, who was appearing for some petitioners, that persons who have been given
provisional allotment of EWS (Economically Weaker Section) flats are not residing there
because it is not habitable.
Parikh told the bench that they have filed an application as the persons who have got
provisional allotment are not able to reside there.

“You have been assuring us again and again that whatever grievances are there, if it is brought
to your attention, you will take it up with the authority to find some solution to the problem.
Which is doable, must be done and in a reasonable time,” the bench told senior advocate Arun
Bhardwaj, who was appearing for the municipal corporation.
“So, if there is any issue which is doable, why not address it immediately,” the bench observed,
adding why such issue comes up before the court again and again.
Bhardwaj assured the bench that he would sit with Parikh, discuss the grievance raised in the
application and see what is required to be done.
He told the bench that he has not yet received the application and the grievances which will be
brought to his notice will be appropriately addressed.
The lawyer assisting Parikh told the bench that they had e-mailed a copy of the application and
also a letter on the issue to the office of the corporation’s counsel.
“Everyone is not so prompt and efficient that he looks at his e-mail daily. At least, I do not look at
my e-mail on a daily basis,” Justice Khanwilkar observed.
After Bhardwaj assured the bench that he would discuss the issue with Parikh to sort out the
grievance, the bench said it would take up the application after the winter break.
Besides this application, the apex court also heard arguments on a batch of petitions which
have raised issues regarding forest and non-forest land.
On June 7, the top court had directed state of Haryana and the Faridabad municipal corporation
to remove “all encroachments”, consisting of around 10,000 residential constructions, in the
Aravali forest area near the village, saying “land grabbers cannot take refuge of rule of law” and
talk of “fairness