The Supreme Court on
Wednesday instructed the Centre and Uttarakhand state government to formulate a
rehabilitation scheme for over 50,000 people residing on encroached railway
land in Haldwani. This directive followed a plea by the Centre to vacate a stay
order preventing the removal of these encroachments.
A three-judge bench, led
by Justice Surya Kant and including Justices Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan,
ordered the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary to convene a meeting with the Centre
and the railways. The meeting aims to devise a comprehensive plan to
rehabilitate the affected residents. The court emphasised the need for the
state to balance the rights of long-term residents with the necessity of
expanding railway infrastructure.
“The
ultimate thing is that families have been living on this land for decades; they
are human beings, and courts cannot be ruthless. Courts need to maintain a
balance, and the state needs to do something,” the bench stated.
The
court directed the authorities to identify the land required for railway
expansion and the families affected by the potential eviction within four
weeks.
The Supreme Court’s intervention came after the
Centre sought to vacate the apex court’s stay on the Uttarakhand High Court’s
January 2023 order, which mandated the removal of encroachments from 29 acres
of land claimed by the Railways in Haldwani. The Railways reported that
approximately 30.04 hectares of land, accommodating 4,365 houses, had been
encroached upon, affecting over 50,000 people.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati argued
for vacating the stay, citing the need for land to implement railway expansion
plans. She highlighted Haldwani’s strategic importance as the gateway to the
Kumaon region.