Subject: Delhi High
Court dismisses the petition challenging the constitutional validity of the
Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958
A division bench comprising of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and
Justice A. K. Chawla of the Delhi High Court today i.e. 07 January, 2019 dismissed the petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Delhi Rent
Control Act, 1958. As the lead petitioner (and losing one) in the Writ Petition (Civil) no. 516 of 2010
titled Shobha Aggarwal & others v.
Union of India & Another, it is imperative to point out that the
judgement has not addressed the core issues raised by the petitioners. The
court has failed to discharge its constitutional mandate of declaring the DRCA,
1958 – which violates the fundamental rights of owners – as unconstitutional.
The court in its ‘wisdom’ has left it to the majoritarian government dictated
by vote bank politics to do the needful, even though the court was made fully
aware of the inaction of the Central Governments in power since 1995.
It needs to be pointed out that the
entire ruling class parties have continued to indulge in masterly inactivity on
the issue since 1995 when the Delhi Rent Act, 1995 (which repealed the 1958
law) was passed unanimously by the Parliament, but which the Executive failed
to enforce due to pressure of the powerful tenant-trader lobby of old markets
in Delhi. Vote bank politics takes precedence over the Parliament representing
the will of the 1.35 billion people of India. The continued existence of the
DRCA, 1958 is also against the government policy since 1992.
The
owners may have lost a battle but the war will be fought in the Supreme Court
and they are confident that justice will be done. Meanwhile the owners will
continue to get pittance as rent under the rent control law as has been the
case for the last 6 to 8 decades. Three generations of owners have already
suffered huge economic losses and faced physical, mental and emotional trauma.
During the long struggle a number of owners have died; many have become
bedridden due to age related ailments without having the finances for medical
care.
The struggle has continued for three
decades both inside the Parliament and in two rounds of legal battle being taken
up in the courts (High Court & Supreme Court, first in 2002-03 by other
petitioners) and in 2010 through the present writ petition filed by women
owners viz Shobha Aggarwal, Suman Jain & Seema Khandelwal. Petitioner no.
1, Shobha Aggarwal, an advocate appeared in-person while the others were
represented by Pranav Jain, advocate pro
bono.
The Committee for the Repeal of
Delhi Rent Control Act (CRDRCA) acknowledges the efforts and sacrifices of
owners who have contributed to this long struggle of three decades and their
continued support for the case in the Supreme Court.
Some owners provided moral support;
others kept the petitioners informed about the status of their property cases;
and many took the trouble of attending the court proceedings. In all there were
over 50 scheduled court hearings/dates. The struggle will continue with renewed
efforts.
