After 25 years, HC orders eviction of dairies from Amritsar by December 31

The bench issued a writ of mandamus directing the corporation to serve eviction notices within two months to all dairies still operating within municipal limits. If the owners fail to comply, the court said, the civic body will be “empowered to apply permissible force in law with the help of police” after giving an opportunity of being heard and allotting plots through a transparent draw of lots.

The petition was filed on behalf of 1,650 dairy owners in the walled city, who had initially opposed their ouster but later agreed to relocate if a proper rehabilitation scheme was framed. They had sought that developed plots be allotted, not sold, to them at rates fixed by the municipal council.

On May 18, 2000, the high court directed members to file undertakings to move outside the municipal limits. By July 6, 2000, undertakings from 1,312 members were filed. The municipal corporation later informed the court that two complexes had been developed—one by the corporation and another by the Amritsar Improvement Trust—to resettle the dairies, and that 497 dairy owners had been identified for relocation. In October 2001, the corporation claimed that all dairies in the walled city had been shifted.

However, during Tuesday’s hearing, the bench noted a mismatch in records over the years and found that relocation was far from complete. The corporation admitted that 430 dairies were still operational within the city, most in residential areas, raising serious hygiene and sanitation concerns.

The court also recorded that 106 developed plots in the resettlement complexes, 42 measuring 300 square yards and 74 measuring 600 square yards, remained vacant even after 25 years of litigation. “It is surprising to note that 430 dairies are still functional… primarily in residential areas… causing great concerns about hygiene and sanitation,” the bench observed.

Directing the corporation to complete the eviction and relocation exercise by year-end, the bench said all existing dairy owners within municipal limits must be given notices within two months. They must be offered the vacant resettlement plots through a transparent allotment process, and failure to shift would invite police-assisted eviction, the bench added.

The bench also made it clear that the compliance report must be filed after December 31. If the orders are not followed, the matter will be taken up in execution proceedings, it said.

25 years of litigation

• May 18, 2000 – Punjab and Haryana High Court directs members of the Dairy Welfare Union to file undertakings to shift dairies outside the municipal limits if given developed resettlement plots.

• July 6, 2000 – 1,312 undertakings filed by dairy owners agreeing to relocate under a rehabilitation scheme.

• October 12, 2001 – Municipal Corporation, Amritsar, claims all dairies in the walled city have been shifted; says 500 vacant resettlement plots are available.

• July 29, 2002 – Court records consensus that 497 identified dairy owners will move to newly allotted sites within one month; warns of contempt proceedings for non-compliance.

• December 5, 2002 – Court allows petitioners to remain temporarily, subject to filing undertakings by March 31, 2003.

• 2003 onwards – Several individual petitions filed; interim stays granted in some cases against eviction.

• August 13, 2025 – Court notes 430 dairies still operating within municipal limits, 106 developed plots lying vacant; directs eviction and relocation to be completed by December 31, 2025, with police assistance if needed.