Haldwani encroachments: SC orders Uttarakhand Chief Secretary to hold meeting with Railways for rehabilitation of affected families

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, July 24

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary to hold a meeting with the Centre and the Railways to rehabilitate over 50,000 people—mostly Muslims—who have allegedly encroached on railway land in Haldwani.

“Assuming they are encroachers, still the ultimate question is…they are all human beings. They have been residing for decades. These are all pucca houses. Courts can’t be ruthless, but at the same time, courts cannot encourage people to encroach… Courts need to maintain a balance,” a three-judge Bench led by Justice Surya Kant said.

While the Centre’s plea seeking vacation of the top court’s January 5, 2023, order staying the Uttarakhand High Court order for removal of encroachments from 29 acres of land claimed by the Railways in Haldwani, the Bench said the state government will have to provide the scheme for rehabilitation of those affected.

The Railways submitted that a retaining wall protecting the railway tracks was washed away by violent flow of the Ghuala river during the 2023 monsoon and requested the Bench to urgently make available a strip of the land to facilitate its operations.

The Bench, which also included Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, sought to know why the Railways didn’t do anything against the alleged encroachers, who have been occupying the land in question for.

“As the State, when everything has been happening before your eyes, you also had to do something,” it said, adding that instead of initiating statutory proceedings against them, the Railways chose to ride on the back of a PIL filed by a private individual.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati said proceedings under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act 1971 were pending against the encroachers.

The Bench directed the state government to identify the strip of land required for upgradation of infrastructure and for shifting of railway line without any delay along with identification of families likely to be affected by eviction.

Contending that several expansion plans of the Railways have been thwarted due to the unavailability of the land, she urged the Bench to vacate the stay on an incremental basis.

According to the Railways, there are 4,365 encroachers on the land on which around 50,000 people, mostly Muslims, reside. Thousands of families are facing eviction from the Railway land in Haldwani’s Banbhoolpura area after the Uttarakhand High Court on December 20, 2022, ordered removal of encroachments after giving them one-week notice. The High Court order was stayed by the top court on January 5, 2023.