New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought details from the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) on the facilities available for housing homeless persons in the national capital in view of the impending chilly winters. "We are concerned. We are on the eve of what is going to be a very chilly winter," a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan observed.
The apex court asked the DUSIB to give details about the number of persons who could be accommodated in shelter homes and an estimate of those requiring such facilities. The bench said if there was any deficit in the facilities available, the DUSIB would also apprise how it proposes to deal with such a situation.
The top court was hearing a matter concerning the right to shelter of homeless persons in the urban areas. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for one of the petitioners, said the apex court had passed several orders in the matter, terming it an important issue. He said the total capacity of shelter homes in Delhi was only around 17,000 persons and the DUSIB had demolished nine such shelter homes.
Bhushan said these demolished shelter homes had around 450 people living there, though the capacity was only 286. "What is the total capacity of shelter homes in Delhi?" the bench asked the DUSIB counsel. The lawyer responded it was around 17,000 and the application filed before the court concerned only six temporary shelters.
The DUSIB counsel said there were six temporary shelter homes that were destroyed due to floods in the River Yamuna in 2023 and since June 2023, nobody lived there. He said the applicant should not have any objection if homeless people around that area were being shifted to a permanent shelter home at Geeta colony.
The lawyer said not even a single death was reported owing to cold conditions in Delhi during last winter. The bench asked the DUSIB to file an affidavit pointing out details, including the facilities available with the board for accommodating the homeless. The bench posted the matter on December 17.
During the hearing, Bhushan claimed there was allegation of bribery against one of the senior officers of DUSIB and an FIR was also registered in the matter. "This amounts to character assassination," the bench observed, noting the officer was not even made an accused in the case.
"Making such wild allegations that he is involved in corruption, he is made an accused," the bench said, "where do you find it? This seriously affects somebody's reputation". The bench told the DUSIB's counsel to give details about the facilities available for the homeless and whether they were sufficient to meet the requirements, suggesting it to take the average of the last five-six years authentic data available.
