The Supreme Court hearing scheduled for today regarding the removal of encroachments from railway land in the Banbhulpura area of Haldwani has been postponed. The next hearing will now be held on December 9th.
The Railways stated that 29 acres of their land in Haldwani has been encroached upon, with approximately 4,365 encroachers occupying it. The Supreme Court hearing on this matter was scheduled for today (Tuesday). Haldwani was put on high alert, with Banbhulpura placed on high alert. Entry of outsiders and vehicles was prohibited. Security personnel were deployed at every corner, and the ITBP and CRPF were also instructed to be on standby. The hearing remained closely watched until evening, but the court postponed it today.
The battle to remove encroachments has been ongoing for 19 years.
The issue of removing encroachments from railway land in and around Banbhulpura has been ongoing for nearly two decades. Nineteen years ago, the administration removed encroachments around the station, but due to lack of demarcation, encroachments resurfaced in subsequent years. The Railways stated that 29 acres of railway land in Haldwani has been encroached upon, with approximately 4,365 encroachers present.
Petitioner Ravi Shankar Joshi states that the High Court had passed orders in 2007 to remove encroachments from railway land in the Banbhulpura and Gafurbasti areas. The administration then cleared 2,400 square meters of land from encroachment. In 2013, he filed a public interest litigation in the High Court regarding illegal mining in the Gaula River and the damage to the Gaula Bridge. During the hearing, the issue of encroachment on railway land resurfaced. On November 9, 2016, the court disposed of the petition, directing the Railways to remove all encroachments within ten weeks. Following this, the encroachers and the state government filed an affidavit in the High Court claiming the land belonged to the state government, but the court rejected it on January 10, 2017.
Learn what happened when
Joshi explains that several special petitions were filed in the Supreme Court against this. The Supreme Court directed the encroachers and the state government to file their individual petitions in the High Court by February 13, 2017, and the High Court would examine them. Three months were granted for this. On March 6, 2017, the court directed the Railways to take action under the Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants Act, 1971, but no action was taken. Petitioner Joshi filed a contempt petition in the High Court. The Railways and the district administration presented their arguments in the High Court, but the encroachments remained unresolved.
Joshi filed another public interest petition in the High Court on March 21, 2022, alleging that the Railways had failed to remove the encroachments from its land. On May 18, 2022, the court directed all affected individuals to present their facts to the court, but the encroachers failed to prove their rights to the land. On December 20, 2022, the court again directed the Railways to issue a week’s notice to the encroachers to remove the encroachment. The matter subsequently went to the Supreme Court, where it was scheduled to be heard today
