Soaring rents force activists to demand regulation for students
A group of activists want the authorities to start regulating rents as per the Delhi Rent Control Act in view of the soaring rent rates giving a hard time to outstation students seeking accommodation in the national Capital.
T h e g r o u p, R i g h t to Accommodation and Work, said that landlords were charging steep rents from outstation students without giving any receipts.
It said due to the poor implementation of the law, there is no regulation of rent leading to exploitation of tenants.
After numerous letters written to various departments of the government failed to get any response, convenor of the group, Praveen Kumar Singh, has decided to stage an indefinite hunger strike outside the secretariat building from May 11.
However, after the group was denied permission, Singh moved the Delhi high court, which on Tuesday issued a notice to Delhi Police and sought its reply on why a person cannot be allowed to sit on an indefinite hunger strike outside the Delhi secretariat.
During the hearing, Delhi police said it cannot allow any form of protest outside the secretariat building as a local magis- trate has already issued an order under section 144 of the criminal procedure code prohibiting any form of unlawful assembly outside the secretariat from March 30 to May 28.
Refusing to give an early hearing to Singh’s petition, the court posted the matter for further hearing on July 4. It, however, told Singh that, “There is no constitutional right to protest at a particular place of your choosing. Protest at any other place. You are not stopped from protesting.”
The high court told Singh that he could protest at any other place other than the secretariat building.
In his petition, filed through advocate Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, Singh has challenged the April 29 decision of the Delhi Police refusing him permission to stage a protest on the ground that it would pose a traffic as well as law and order problem.
Singh told HT that there are over 50,000 college students who are staying in rented accommodation. He has sought rent fixation of areas near the Delhi University’s north campus and Jawaharal Nehru University (JNU) to protect students against exorbitant rents.
The group demanded that the city administration should implement the Act and provide affordable accommodation to the outstation students.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday directed the state government, municipal corporation and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to ensure no unauthorised construction takes place around a protected ancient church in Christian Colony in north Delhi.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw directed the authorities, including ASI, to ensure that the area is free of encroachments and unauthorised constructions, as ordered by it earlier and listed the matter for hearing on July 8.
Central government’s standing counsel Vivek Goyal, appearing for ASI, assured the court that its order would be complied with.
The order was passed on an application of petitioner Utsav Kumar, a Delhi University student, who has alleged that despite the court’s earlier direction prohibiting unauthorised construction in the area, fresh illegal construction was being carried out and no action has been taken by the authorities.
He said that the authorities have admitted there were around 205 unauthorised constructions in the area but they have not taken any action against such structures. He has alleged that the protected monument was also being used for breeding and sale of puppies.