The Supreme Court Wednesday put a stay on the matter of the removal of encroachment from Indian Railways land in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, saying that a workable arrangement has to be devised. Staying the Uttarakhand High Court order to evict more than 4000 families who are illegally encroaching on railway land, the apex court bench comprising Justices SK Kaul and AS Oka also barred any new construction or development on the land till the matter is resolved.
Supreme Court Stays Uttarakhand HC Direction For Haldwani Evictions; Says “50,000 People Can’t Be Uprooted In 7 Days” #SupremeCourtOfIndia #SupremeCourt https://t.co/WdCMZykRcq
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) January 5, 2023
The court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Uttarakhand High Court order which directed the clearance of illegal encroachments on railway land in Haldwani, Uttarakhand. The Supreme Court issued notices to the Uttarakhand government and the Railways in the matter, asking them to find a practical solution before going ahead with the eviction.
While the Supreme Court agreed that the land belongs to Indian Railways and is needed for the development and expansion of railway infrastructure, the court stated in its judgement that the government must give full rehabilitation to the eligible residents of the area. “In the meantime, there shall be a stay of the directions passed in the impugned order,” Supreme Court said, prohibiting any new construction or development on the land.
While putting a stay on the matter, the bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka opined that 50,000 persons cannot be relocated in seven days. As Justice SK Kaul heard the case, he stated that there are numerous parts to the issue, that people have been living on the land for years, and that there are establishments.
The court noted that there are many people who claimed to have been living in the area for 60-70 years, and asked the authorities to identify illegal encroachers and legal residents. After that, the govt must rehabilitate the valid residents, and find a suitable solution for the illegal encroachers, the court ordered.
“What is troubling us is how do you deal with a situation where people bought in auction and took possession after 1947 and acquired title. You may acquire the land but what to do now. People lived for 60-70 years some rehabilitation has to be done. There must be a culmination to the issue and we do not encourage what is going on,” Justice Kaul said during the hearing. The justice said that even in cases of illegal encroachment, governments have often rehabilitated the encroachers. He said that there is a human angle to the issue.
The court also noted that the High Court issued the order to clear the encroachment within 7 days without hearing the affected people. The bench further said that a large number of people have been living in the area for a long period, and all of them can’t be painted with the same brush. There could be different categories, the bench said.
As the lawyers of the petitioners said that many people have been living there for decades and were granted leases of the land by the government and some claimed to have purchased land in auctions, the Supreme Court said that the state govt will have to find a practical solution. It is notable that the petitioners are not seeking rehabilitation as they claim to have ownership rights of the land.
While staying the eviction order, the court said that proceedings under the Public Premises Act can continue.
The case has now been listed for its next hearing on February 7.
The Haldwani encroachment clearance orders and protests against it
Thousands of Muslim residents in Haldwani staged a protest on December 28 against the clearance of illegal encroachments on railway land in accordance with a High Court ruling. The demonstrators claimed that removing the illegal encroachments would make them homeless.
The protesters also claimed that the clearance of encroachments would affect a large number of women, children, and elderly persons residing in the area. Obvious actors including Alt News’ Mohammed Zubair, Amnesty India and others have jumped to make Haldwani another Shaheen Bagh.
The Congress party too jumped in to exploit the situation for political brownie points. On January 4, former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat sat on an hour-long silent fast at his residence in Dehradun in support of the people of Banbhulpura of Haldwani.
