‘There cannot be uprooting of 50,000 people in 7 days’: SC stays Uttarakhand HC’s Haldwani eviction order

Issuing notice to the railways and state of Uttarakhand, the court also directed that there shall be complete restraint on further constructions on the land, whether by existing occupants or by others.

Taking up petitions filed against the high court order, the bench asked whether the demarcation had been done as to how much land belonged to railways and how much to the state.

Appearing for the railways, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati submitted that it had been done. She added that the issue is not an overnight one and that the due process had been followed.

Over 4,000 families have been served eviction notices and given seven days to vacate the area, following an order to that effect issued by the Uttarakhand High Court. (Source: Twitter/@ShayarImran)

The court, however, said there may be instances of people who have purchased land there in auction etc.

“People were staying for so many years, some rehabilitation must be there,” said Justice Kaul, adding that asking people to clear up in seven days may not be appropriate.

The ASG pointed out that the issue has been going on for a long time and is being projected in a manner that the state and railways have conflicting stances. “State and railways are on the same page,” she submitted.

The bench said “what is troubling us is how do you deal” with people who may have purchased in auction or claim rights in the land.

People have been living there for 60-70 years and some rehabilitation has to be there, the court said. The ASG responded that there are schemes for rehabilitation and they have to apply but the people were saying it is their land.

“There must be a culmination to this issue one way or the other…If we keep expanding, the whole thing will go on…We have to see… maybe all of them cannot be painted with the same brush, maybe some of them have no right…There is a human angle to it. You have to work out something,” Justice Kaul said. “We are trying to find out a solution, this is a human issue…that arises from a long period of occupation,” he added.

The bench added that it was also conscious of the needs of the railways. “We also don’t want you to be put to difficulty…In harmony, two things can occur,” the bench said.

Underlining the need for the land, the ASG said it is the gateway to the entire region and was much needed for its further development.

Justice Oka added that it may not be proper to say that paramilitary forces have to be deployed to remove people.

The court will now hear the matter on February 7.