Rajasthan High Court stays Single Bench order in Shriram Colony land case, 300 families get relief

Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday stayed a Single Bench order of April 9 that had cleared the way for acquisition of 42 bighas of land at Shriram Colony on B2 Bypass, giving interim relief to around 300 families settled on the plot. A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice SP Sharma and Justice Shubha Mehta passed the order while hearing an appeal filed by the Shriram Colony-B Vikas Samiti.

The stay comes days after the Rajasthan Housing Board began taking possession of the land on April 16 on the strength of the Single Bench ruling. The appellants told the court that the Board had demolished temporary structures belonging to 20 families and some permanent constructions during the drive. With the Division Bench’s intervention, the Housing Board will now have to restore the site to its earlier state.

Appearing for the Vikas Samiti, advocate Ashish Sharma submitted that the Single Bench had ruled on points already settled by the Supreme Court. He argued that the families have lived on the land for nearly four decades and that declaring their 1981 sale deeds void would be unjust. Sharma also contended that fraud allegations levelled by the Housing Board against the appellants had been rejected in earlier judicial proceedings.

The Single Bench, in its April 9 order, had held the Jaipur Development Authority’s scheme approval dated May 29, 1995 and subsequent orders to be illegal, observing that a sale deed does not, by itself, transfer ownership. The appellants have asked the Division Bench to set aside that order.

For the roughly 300 households that have lived in Shriram Colony for over four decades, Tuesday’s order puts the demolition drive on hold and allows them to remain on the land while the appeal is heard.