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Timestamp: 2019-04-21 08:25:12+00:00

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It is estimated that nearly a quarter of the Indian population lives in slums and squatters with insufficient access to basic needs. Housing needs of such persons are a serious cause of concern  . The right to shelter is implicitly stated in Articles 19 (1) (e) and 21.
The Constitution of South Africa was adopted almost fifty years after the Indian Constitution. This time gap could perhaps explain the progressive nature of the South African Constitution which has made the right to shelter a fundamental right as defined under Articles 26 and 28 of the Bill of Rights. In South Africa, the right of access to adequate housing is modeled on the right to housing in Article 11 (1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which provides that the State has a duty to recognize the right of everyone to adequate housing.
It is necessary to have a human rights approach to the right to adequate housing since it departs from a welfare approach to homelessness by demonstrating that homeless people are not simply objects of charity. A human rights response to homelessness would involve all levels of government committing to and taking concrete and targeted legislative, policy and budgetary steps towards the full and immediate realization of the human rights of shelter and adequate housing.
One important aspect of the issue of homelessness is whether citizens have a right to shelter, and should it be enforceable against the state. Whether squatting should be treated as unlawful occupation of land or as a socio-economic reality that has to be resolved  .
“Human” Right to Adequate Housing?
Adequate Housing forms an indispensable part of ensuring human dignity. Persons who are denied such rights face gross violations of fundamental rights such as the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to education, the right to life, liberty and security, the right to privacy, social security, the right to freedom from discrimination and the right to vote  .
Not only must relevant international law inspire the domestic courts, but that as a signatory to the Covenants and other treaties, India is bound to uphold their principles. Reliance on international obligations in the housing rights judgements of the Indian Supreme Court has been significant but not very consistent. The courts have relied on the provisions of the UDHR and the ICESCR, but the arguments have not moved beyond these provisions besides random application. Unfortunately, most lawyers and judges in India are entirely unaware of the existence, let alone complexities and nuances, in the field of international human rights law. These international norms of ‘minimum core obligations’, even with a local interpretation, are not considered by the Indian courts to determine housing rights.  However The Indian Supreme Court has placed some importance on guaranteeing housing rights as part of the larger goal of achieving social, cultural and economic equality, which is also a fundamental constitutional objective.
The Indian Supreme Court has fully reverted to its adjudicatory policy stance in the first three decades of Indian constitutional interpretation which entrenched contract and property above all fundamental rights of the hapless Indian citizens.
The concept of right to shelter which was first mentioned in Francis Coralie v. Delhi  . Right to Shelter was once again emphasized in the landmark judgment of Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation  by stating that life in Article 21 is not restricted to “a mere animal existence” but extends to all those limits and facilities by which life is enjoyed. This judgment of the late eighties brought right to shelter to the forefront.
The Supreme Court of India has elaborated on the Right to adequate Housing and Shelter which are now covered under the umbrella of Art. 21. This was explicitly mentioned first in the case of K. Chandru v. State of Tamil Nadu  which stated that the right to life under Article 21 includes the right to livelihood and since the right to life and the right to work are interdependent eviction of a person puts his right to life in danger, which consequently violates of Article 21 and 19(1)(e) and (g) of the constitution.
Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation  portrayed the plight of lakhs of persons who live on pavements and slums in Mumbai. They relied on Article 21 of the Constitution and contended that that they have a right to live, a right which cannot be exercised without the means of livelihood. They argued that they have no option but to come to big cities, which provides them some means of bare subsistence. Pavement/slum is nearest to their place of work. The right to life can only be taken away by a procedure established by law, which has to be “fair and reasonable”. They also relied on their right to reside and settle in any part of the country which is guaranteed by Article19(1)(e). Justice Chandrachud, recognized the right to livelihood but went on to say that public streets and pavements can be used for passing but a person does not overreach the limited purpose for which pavements are made and overstretch his limited right to trespass.
In Chameli Singh v/s. State of U. P. & Anr  the court elaborated on the right to shelter and opined that shelter for a human being, is not a mere protection of his life and limb but includes adequate living space, safe and decent structure, clean and decent surroundings, sufficient light, pure air, water, electricity, sanitation, and other civic amenities such as roads, etc. so as to have easy access to his daily work. The right to shelter, therefore, does not mean a mere right to roof over one’s head, but to the entire infrastructure necessary to enable them to live and develop as a human being. Right to shelter when used as an essential requisite to the right to life should therefore be guaranteed as a fundamental right and a human right.
In a PIL filed by Almitra Patel  the issue before the court concerned solid waste disposal. Justice Kirpal blamed the nexus between the landowning agencies and municipal authorities stating that establishment of slums is a well organized business where large areas of public land are usurped for private use free of cost and it linked the issue of non disposal of waste to the establishment of slums in cities.
The Almitra Patel verdict made a grave impact; that in the case of Okhla Factory Owners Association v. Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, the Delhi High Court used Justice Kirpal’s opinion to lay down that encroachers were ineligible for alternative accommodation.
The judgement of the Supreme Court in Narmada Bachao Andolan v. Union of India  however came as a complete shock to the previous progressive human right judgments about adequate housing and shelter. This petition was filed by the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), a people’s movement, against the displacement caused by the construction of the massive Sardar Sarovar dam that was going on since 15 years. It concerned with the plight of thousands of tribals, who had been displaced with inadequate resettlement and rehabilitation options. Justice Kirpal in the Supreme Court ruled that, ‘displacement of the tribals and other persons would not per se result in the violation of their fundamental or other rights.’ Thus the court permitted that height of the dam to be raised. This single judgement contradicted all previous Supreme Court rulings that have upheld the right to housing and shelter as an integral part of the fundamental right to life.
In Azaadi Bachao Andolan vs Union of India,  the Supreme Court even refused to examine the question whether the Land Acquisition Act in so far as it allowed compulsory acquisition of land from persons who are dependent upon that land for their livelihood is violative of their fundamental rights, since the act does not obligate the government to provide them with alternative land or an alternative means of livelihood.
Similarly, in the case of Hemraj v Commissioner of Police Justice Ruma Pal stated that “if you are occupying a public land, there is no legal right, let alone fundamental right.”  The Bench suggested that people need not come to Delhi, unless they can afford to live in the city. The effects of these judgments on the urban poor extend not only to complete deprivation of shelter but also deprivation of basic livelihood as the two are inextricably connected.
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa has made the right to shelter a fundamental right as defined under Articles 26 and 28 of the Bill of Rights. In South Africa, the right of access to adequate housing is modeled on the right to housing in Article 11 (1) of the ICESCR, which provides that the State has a duty to recognise the right of everyone to adequate housing.
The most important judgment that has set the precedent and trend with reference to the interpretation of right to housing and shelter is the Grootboom  judgment given by the Constitutional Court where Justice Yacoob ruled that the state is obliged to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources and to achieve the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing. Access to adequate housing indicates the presence of land, services, and a dwelling. A right of access to adequate housing also suggests that it is not only the state that is responsible for the provision of houses, but that other agents within our society, including individuals themselves, must be enabled by legislative and other measures to provide housing. The state must create the conditions for access to adequate housing for people at all economic levels in society.
Therefore, as evidenced from the above judicial approach it is sufficiently clear that in India the right to adequate housing has been read by some positive jurists into the right to life under article 21.However the shift in judicial trend indicates that right to shelter is still elusive as a fundamental and human right.
As held in Shantistar Builders’ Case “the basic needs of man traditionally been food, clothing and shelter  .” For the homeless poor globalization has made no significant difference, there still exists a wide gap between income groups, in terms of the availability, affordability and habitability of houses and access to utilities, resulting in an increase in the number of people in inadequate and insecure housing and living conditions  .
The motive force which propels massive migration of the rural population to big cities is the struggle for survival, the struggle for life. So unimpeachable is the evidence of the nexus between life and the means of livelihood  .
If right to shelter is left to the political and administrative will of the State, and if slums are allowed to be demolished, every day, what will be left of that right? And if at any stage the rights are abrogated for some, and sustained for the others, would not the Court be required to intervene, at least on the ground of discrimination? In other words, is it not possible to eliminate judicial role or supervision to ensure that the State lives upto its affirmative obligations as contained in ICESCR. Whenever there is any breach of any right, be it Civil, political, social, economic or cultural there has to be a remedy. The judiciary is still the best guarantee for a just remedy.
The extreme insensitivity of the Supreme Court with regard to housing in the October 2000 Narmada judgement and the poor and casual use of well-developed international law, suggest that the regressive attitude of the courts might well be an indication that law may be one means but certainly not the definitive route to social justice. It must be recognised that with the equality principle as the backbone of the right to life, the right to housing acquires the status of a justiciable fundamental right. Perhaps it is time that we began to rethink and revive our commitment to the right to adequate housing, both nationally and internationally.
3.1 Housing Rights Too Vague to be defined?
Whenever the right to housing is violated by forced evictions, a number of other rights are also affected. The rights to freedom of movement and to choose one’s residence, recognized in many international laws and national constitutions, are infringed when forced evictions occur. The right to security of the person, widely established, means little in practical terms when people are forcibly evicted with violence, bulldozers and intimidation. Arrests or killings of community leaders opposing forced evictions are common and violate the right to life, freedom of expression and the freedom to join organizations of one’s choice.  Children lose their right to education. Men and women lose their source of employment, and their right to work is breached. When they are thrown on the street, their right to health is affected. When families and communities are torn apart by eviction, the right to family life is infringed. When the eviction squads enter one’s home, the right to privacy which is a part of the right to life, and the right to security of the home are violated.
Although it has been said that “The right to an adequate standard of living, including food, clothing and housing does exist under international law, however no ‘right to adequate housing’ exists as an independent right  “; the steps taken by the government and Judiciary of South Africa to alleviate the living conditions of the population are highly commendable. Although the South African Constitution has been modeled along the lines of the Indian Constitution, yet the interpretation of Article 21 in India to cover right to shelter has only been half hearted and the Supreme Court’s attitude can at best be said to be discouraging.
The progressive steps taken in South Africa can only be emulated, along with changes to suit Indian conditions.
Perhaps the solution to the problem of rapidly growing populations in urban cities can be found in better planning of the development of these metros by the civic authorities. The South African Grootboom judgment also suggests that every case be analysed in the proper context and a solution be found accordingly. The growth of Indian cities needs to be channeled and appropriate steps must be taken to utilize the available space effectively. Most importantly, if Indian cities are to support a burgeoning population, the Judiciary needs to be active in ensuring actual implementation of the Master Plans of the cities.
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