Supreme Court stays demolition in Haldwani saying 50,000 people cannot be uprooted overnight

The Supreme Court on Thursday (January 5) issued a stay order on the removal of encroachments from 29 acres of railway land in Haldwani, Uttarakhand.

The apex court said that 50,000 people cannot be uprooted overnight and that a scheme has to be worked out for rehabilitation and working out the rights of the various people while also considering need of the railways.  

The SC posted the case for hearing on February 7.

The residents had submitted in their pleas that the High Court has erred in passing the order despite being aware of the fact that proceedings with regard to the title of the residents, including the petitioners, are pending before the District Magistrate, reported PTI.

According to the railways, there are 4,365 encroachers on the land.

What the SC said: The court said that the moot point to be considered would be whether complete land is to vest in railways or if state is claiming part of the land.

• Apart from that there are issues of occupant claiming rights in the land as there are auction purchases. "We have cavilled through way directions have been passed in HC order, There cannot be uprooting of 50,000 people overnight within 7 days," the SC said.
• The top court said  a workable arrangement is necessary. "People may have no rights in land may have to be removed, coupled with schemes of rehabilitation, while recognising needs of railways," the SC judgment said.

What is the case? The Uttarakhand HC, on December 20, ordered the demolition of constructions over encroached railway land at Banbhoolpura in Haldwani, Nainital. The HC told the authorities to give a week's notice to the encroachers, and after that, the encroachments should be demolished.

• The encroachments include religious places, schools, business establishments and residences on an area spread over 29 acres of railway land.
• On November 9, 2016, the HC ordered the removal of encroachments from the railway land within 10 weeks. The court had said that all encroachers should be brought under the Railway Public Premises (eviction of unauthorised occupants) Act 1971, reported PTI.

What are the petitioners saying? According to the petition, people have been staying in Haldwani's Mohalla Nai Basti for years and the court's eviction order to over 20,000 people came in at a time when the titles of the residents are pending before the district magistrate.

• The petitioners stated that their names are on the house tax register and claimed that they have been paying taxes for years for staying there and that authorities gave them gas connections at the same residential address, reported India Today.

Women in #Haldwani Uttarakhand are peacefully protesting the order to demolish over 4500 homes, mostly belonging to Muslims, on the pretext of “removing encroachments on railway land”.The evictions will displace more than 50000 people leaving them homelesspic.twitter.com/zf1dXlyA54

— Suchitra Vijayan (@suchitrav) January 3, 2023

• "The high court, in complete disregard of settled principles of title and occupation, collectively rejected all documents placed by the petitioners that clearly establish their title. The state in its review application acknowledged the legitimate title of the petitioners as an example of the validity of the title of the residents," the petition stated.

The issue over eviction notices: According to a statement by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, the railway has served eviction notices to people living in 78 acres of land while the land in dispute was 29 acres, reported India Today. It also said that the high court's order is going to affect more than 50,000 people living in the area.

#Haldwani | Life has come to full stop as the High Court orders to demolish 4000 'illegal houses' from Railway land | Locals hit the street, knock Supreme Court's door@PoulomiMSaha @tweets_amit #Nanital #ITVideo pic.twitter.com/s8XWHPdvsv

— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) January 5, 2023

Politics over the issue: The opposition parties have come out in support of the protesting residents. "They have been living in the area for 70 years. There is a mosque, temple, overhead water tank, a PHC, a sewer line laid in 1970, two inter-colleges, and a primary school," Congress leader Qazi Nizamuddin said.

• A Samajwadi Party delegation from Uttar Pradesh arrived at Haldwani on Wednesday (January 4) to extend support to people who are facing eviction.
• Former Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat held a one-hour silent protest at his home in Dehradun against the planned clearance of encroachments in Banbhoolpura.