The final arguments on the
petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Delhi Rent Control Act,
1958 (DRC Act) in re:
Writ Petition (Civil)
no. 516 of 2010
titled
Shobha Aggarwal & others v. Union of
India & Another
were concluded on 4 October, 2018
before a division bench comprising of Justice Ravindra Bhat and Justice A. K.
Chawla of the Delhi High Court. The petitioners in the case had concluded their
opening arguments on 30 July, 2018. The arguments were addressed by lead
petitioner-in-person Ms. Shobha Aggarwal (also an advocate) assisted by Mr.
Pranav Jain, advocate. On 4 October, 2018 arguments on behalf of the Union of
India were addressed by Mr. Akshay Makhija, Standing Counsel for the Central
Government. The counsel for tenants’ associations – which had been allowed to
intervene in the case – also placed their arguments before the court. A brief
rebuttal was done by the lead petitioner, Shobha Aggarwal.
The bench during the course of
the hearing made the following remarks:
“At one point they were landlords. Now they are only lords. Lands are
with you (tenants).”
“It is a crime to own property then.”
The lead petition was filed in
2010 by a group of women property owners (Shobha Aggarwal, Suman Jain, Seema
Khandelwal). The case was
necessitated as hundreds of thousands of property owners in Delhi are being
paid pittance as rent under the archaic law. Successive governments at the
Centre in the last 25 years have failed to implement their own policy to reform
the rent control law under pressure from tenant/trader lobby of old markets in
Delhi. The DRC Act, 1958 has resulted in proliferation of dangerous buildings
and ruination of the city of Delhi; also the poor & needy have been further
marginalized and condemned to stay in slums.
The case is now reserved for
judgement.
(Shobha Aggarwal)
Petitioner no. 1-in-person (lead petitioner)
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