The Supreme Court today refused urgent hearing in the public interest litigation pertaining to the sinking of land in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath .
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha stated that everything of urgency does not have to come to the court. The bench further said that there are democratically elected institutions to look into it.
The matter has been listed for hearing on on January 16 by the Court.
The plea filed by Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati has sought intervention of the Court to ensure immediate financial assistance and compensation to the residents of Joshimath.
The matter was mentioned before a bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha on Monday who decided to hear the matter on an urgent basis.
The plea, filed by Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth, prayed for financial assistance and compensation to the residents of Joshimath.
The PIL seeks the declaration of the Joshimath subsidence as a National Disaster and direct the NDMA to actively support the residents of Joshimath.
The lawyer representing the Shankaracharya said it was an important matter. CJI Chandrachud agreed and said to mention it tomorrow
Joshimath is a mofussil town which is nestled in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand at an altitude of 1,800 metres above sea level. The current population is around 17,000 people.
The town of Joshimath has been declared disaster-prone after cracks started appearing in buildings and on roads and people have been evacuated after that.
Reports said there are around 4,500 buildings in Joshimath and 610 of these had developed huge cracks.