The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Centre and the Uttarakhand state government to devise a rehabilitation scheme for residents asked to vacate railway land in Haldwani, Uttarakhand. This directive comes as a part of the ongoing legal proceedings regarding the eviction of people living on encroached railway land.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and Ujjal Bhuyan instructed railway authorities and the governments to identify the land required for railway track expansion and the families likely to be affected by this process. The authorities have been given four weeks to complete this exercise, with the next hearing scheduled for September 11.
Justice Bhuyan questioned the procedures followed by the railways, asking, “Have you issued any notice? Why are you riding on the back of a PIL? If there are encroachers, railways should issue notice to the encroachers. How many people are you seeking to evict? They are also human beings.”
The bench emphasized the need to identify the required land and the affected families as a first step. This will ensure that the rehabilitation process considers the human aspect of the eviction.
The Supreme Court was hearing an application from the railways to vacate a stay on the eviction of encroachments to protect the railway tracks and the Haldwani railway station. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati argued for vacating the stay, highlighting that several railway expansion plans have been hindered due to land unavailability. She noted that Haldwani serves as the gateway to the hills and the last station before the Kumaon region.
The bench observed that approximately 30.04 hectares of railway-owned land have been encroached upon, with 4,365 houses and over 50,000 people living on the site. The railways stressed the urgent need to reclaim part of this land for shifting a defunct railway line and other infrastructure requirements.
Addressing the ASG’s request to vacate the stay, the bench noted, “Assuming they are encroachers, the ultimate question is whether they are all human beings. They have lived there for decades. These are all pucca houses. Courts can’t be ruthless, but at the same time, courts cannot encourage people to encroach. As the state, when everything has been happening before your eyes, you also have to do something. The fact remains that people have been living there for 3-5 decades, perhaps even before independence. What have you been doing all these years?”
In 2023, residents approached the Supreme Court against the Uttarakhand High Court’s order to remove unauthorized occupants near the Haldwani railway station. On December 20, the High Court had ordered the removal of encroachments from railway land in the Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani, giving occupants a one-week notice.
A total of 4,365 encroachments were slated for removal, affecting residents who have lived on the land for many decades. Protests erupted against the High Court’s order as residents, who are mostly poor, claimed they have been lawful residents for over 70 years, with their names in municipal records and having paid house taxes regularly.
The petitioners highlighted the presence of five government schools, one hospital, and two overhead water tanks in the area. They argued that the long-established physical possession of the land by them and their ancestors, some even before Indian independence, has been recognized by the state and its agencies, which have provided them with gas and water connections and Aadhaar cards.
