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Judgment
The petitioner before this court a public spirited person has filed this present petition by way of Public Interest Litigation stating that the State of Madhya Pradesh through Public Works Department is evicting approximately 350 employees from Government Quarters situated at M.O.G. Lines, Indore. The eviction is being done on account of some Smart City Project as 7.749 hectares of land is to be developed.
Learned counsel for the petitioner has argued before this court that most of the petitioners are Covid Warriors and right from March, 2020 till date they are working day and night in Hospitals and other Institutions and they all are Government servants. Some employees also who are working in High Court are infact making all kinds of efforts to ensure that High Court remains functional. He has also argued that during the Covid-19 Pandemic period it is very much difficult to find out other alternative accommodations because families are confined in their homes and such a drastic step taken by Public Works Department to evict as many as 350 employees from the M.O.G Lines is bad of law. Some notices have been enclosed collectively marked as Annexure-A-2.
Learned counsel has also stated that evicting one family means evicting approximately five persons. One family includes wife, children and sometimes grand parents too and, therefore, at large scale mass eviction has been ordered by Public Works Department that too during Covid-19 Pandemic Period. The employees residing in these houses are the backbones of the essential services which are being provided to the Public at large during this Covid-19 Pandemic Period.
Mr Pushyamitra Bhargav, Additional Advocate General for the respondents State prays for time to seek instruction in the matter.
This court has carefully gone through the writ petition and after hearing learned counsel for the petitioner is of the opinion that the learned counsel for the petitioner has been able to make out a primafacie case for grant of interim relief.
Resultantly, by way of interim relief the respondents are directed not to evict any person from M.O.G. Lines over which the Smart City Project has to be developed, until further orders. All notices issued to all employees shall remain in abeyance and the respondents will not take any steps in the matter in respect of eviction, without leave of this court. The respondent State shall also submit details of number of alternative accommodations available in the township of Indore (vacant Government Quarters). The respondents State shall also furnish details of Government accommodations in which private persons/private bodies are residing or occupying.
Let a complete set of documents be handed over to the Additional Advocate General enabling him to seek instruction and to file reply in the matter. As Additional Advocate General has already marked his presence in the matter there is no necessity of payment of process fee. The two sets of writ petitions be handed over to the Additional Advocate General during the course of the day.
List the matter on 24-11-2020.
Certified copy, today itself.