The court of joint civil judge (senior division) AN Mare on Saturday extended the stay on the eviction order issued by the army to the residents of Padalvasti slum in Bopodi till July 25.
The court of joint civil judge (senior division) AN Mare on Saturday extended the stay on the eviction order issued by the army to the residents of Padalvasti slum in Bopodi till July 25.The stay was granted at the behest of the pleas of the counsel of Padalvasti slum dwellers, Vijay Kale and Manoj Nayak.
The counsel had asked for three weeks to challenge the eviction notice before the Bombay high court (HC). Residents of Padalvasti slum were served the eviction notice by the army in April this year. The defence authorities had claimed that the land on which the Padalvasti slum stands was theirs and the slum was an encroachment.
Padalvasti slum is located next to Avinash Bhosale Infrastructure Pvt Limited’s (ABIL) upcoming super luxurious project ‘Castel Royale’.A large group of worried slum dwellers had assembled on the premises of the district court on Saturday.
This group was led by Sankar Tadke, Maruti Bhalerao, Ketan Shendge, Suresh Jadhav and Jitendra Jadhav. The group also included senior citizens and children.“Since the time the eviction notice has been served on us, we have lost our peace of mind. Padalvasti has been home to our fathers and grandfathers and now we are being asked to leave. We have nowhere to go,” said Tadke.
While arguing the case on Friday, Nayak had asked why the Army authorities kept silent when the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) recognised Padalvasti as a slum in 1984.
“Besides, the army authorities had kept silent even when the PMC had put reservations of a 24-m high capacity mass transit route (HCMTR) and a 30-m DP Road in the development plan of 1987. In the view of the earlier silence the sudden eviction notice does not make sense,” stated Nayak.
He had also argued that the Army had not conducted the mandatory land audits since 1973 and thus they could not evict the slum dwellers in Padalvasti. Pleading on behalf of the army, PM Jagtap argued that the PMC does not have the authority to notify Padalvasti as a slum as the land belonged to the army.
He also opposed the extension of the stay on technical grounds.
After hearing both the sides, justice Mare granted a stay on the eviction order till July 25. The stay was extended to enable the counsel to challenge the eviction order in the Bombay HC. Mare ordered for status quo of the slum to be maintained till July 25.
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