Delhi high court relief to Kashmiri Pandits

Delhi high court on Tuesday quashed the government’s decision of vacating Kashmiri Pandits from their homes in the capital on the ground that right to shelter is a fundamental right.

The pandits were rendered homeless after the turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989.

Justice Gita Mittal while delivering the judgment that came as a relief to 24 such families said, “A positive right to housing and shelter for every person is part of the fundamental right… The state is under a constitutional obligation and duty to protect these rights. When violated, a citizen is entitled to their enforcement.”

Dismissing the government’s argument that the petitioners were not public servants and cannot claim right to continue in the allotted public premises, the court said, “The displacement of the petitioners is not intra-state. The petitioners have been compelled to stay in the capital.”

The court pulled up the government for not rehabilitating the displaced and ordered that Rs25,000 be given to each of the petitioners.