Decide fate of Sainik Farm: Delhi HC orders meeting between Centre, Delhi government, DDA, MCD

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the officials of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Delhi government, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to convene a meeting and address the issues related to Sainik Farm. 

Sainik Farm is an affluent but legally unauthorised and unregularised colony in South Delhi. 

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia today noted that the petitions related to construction and legality of the colony have been pending before the Court for over a decade and, therefore, ordered the government authorities to conduct the exercise in two months. 

It said that the outcome of the meeting must be brought to Court before the next date of hearing in the case in November. 

The Court said that after the meeting, the government must come forward with "some scheme, policy decision or decision in principle".

The Bench underscored that it is high time that the authorities decide the issue of Sainik Farms. 

“You have to take some decision. You cannot keep them in lurch. Something needs to be done. It’s your government which has been bringing legislation after legislation for regularising. There are so many areas where you permit illegality, allow it to perpetuate and then regularise it. It is high time you should decide [Sainik Farm issue]. They should know their fate,” the Court said.  

It added that at this stage, it was not permitting the residents to even repair the properties. 

“At least we are not permitting them to even undertake the repair. The construction is illegal, there is no layout there, there is no building plan,” the Bench remarked. 

The Bench made these observations while dealing with a batch of petitions related to the issue of Sainik Farm.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma appeared for the Central government and stated that in the past, whenever some humanitarian stand was taken and the residents of Sainik Farm were allowed to carry out some repair works, it brought about “catastrophic results and palaces came up in the area”. 

“It is an island, my lords, which does not behove of who are living there. And if I tell your lordships who are the beneficiaries, it might put all of us into embarrassment,” Sharma stated. 

Sharma further stated that the DDA has come up with a master plan for the national capital and the same is now pending with the Central government.

However, the counsel appearing for the residents of the Sainik Farm highlighted that the government had brought legislation to regularise several illegal settlements in Delhi except this colony.