Delhi HC suggests refiling PIL for rehabilitation of Pakistani Hindu refugees

New Delhi [India], December 9 : NGOs filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, urging the court to grant a comprehensive rehabilitation package for Pakistani Hindu refugees currently living in temporary settlements in Delhi. The petition called for provisions including housing, healthcare, education, water and sanitation facilities.
Justice Sanjeev Narula, after a brief hearing, advised the petitioners to refile the case as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the correct format to ensure that comprehensive relief could be granted. Following this suggestion, senior advocate Vikas Pahwa withdrew the writ petition, with permission to file the PIL before the acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.
The petitioners, including Akhil Bhartiya Dharam Prasar Samiti and other NGOs, sought directions from the authorities for a comprehensive rehabilitation package covering housing, healthcare, education, water and sanitation facilities for Pakistani Hindu refugees currently residing in temporary settlements in Delhi.
The petitioners also sought directions not to disturb or demolish the temporary settlements (basties) of these Pakistani Hindu refugees.
Vikas Pahwa, Senior Advocate representing the petitioners, argued that the Ministry of Home Affairs, DUSIB and DDA, who had given assurance in the earlier writ petition did not much about these refugees who have migrated from Pakistan due to religious persecution. They are covered by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, and a majority of them have already received their certificates of registration.
As Indian citizens now, Pahwa argued, they deserve to be looked after in all respects, including their necessities of life. Protection under Article 21 will be available to them also. He also highlighted that the DDA has recently issued a demolition notice to Pakistani Hindu refugees, residing in Majnu Ka Tilla, and have been directed to vacate the camps within 24 hours.