NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the Uttarakhand High Court's order directing eviction of over 4000 families within seven days in Haldwani allegedly on Railways land, saying there is a human angle and there can't be overnight uprooting of people.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka said a rehabilitation scheme needs to be put in place and there has to be clarity on who owned the strip of land.
The court issued notice to the Indian Railways and the state government and put the matter for hearing on February 7.
The court passed its order after hearing senior advocates Salman Khurshid, Colin Gonsalves and Sidharth Luthra and advocate Prashant Bhushan on behalf of petitioners including 'Jan Sahyog Sewa Samiti' through its President Salim Saifi and others against the High Court's order of December 20, 2022.
The counsel for the petitioners submitted there was lease lands and some of the occupants were there over 50-70 years.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati for Railways contended that the land was required for expansion.
The court, however, said there were some occupants who bought it through auction and some by lease. It asked whether segregation was done on part of the authorities.
Bhushan said ex parte orders were passed during the Covid times and no opportunity was granted to occupants.
You can't paint all of them with the same brush. There is a human issue. You need to find a practical way to solve this. This is not the way. There are multiple angles arising from the nature of the land, nature of rights conferred, nature of the ownership, etc," the bench said.
Bhati said the land is gateway to the state and critical for its development. She said the proceedings under the Public Premises Act were initiated and no stay was granted on it.
The court, however, emphasied the need for a workable arrangement and stayed the order passed by the High Court.
The petitioners claimed they are poor people who have been lawful residents of Mohalla Nai Basti and Line No 17 & 18, Banbhulpura (Azad Nagar), Haldwani District Nainital, Uttarakhand for more than 70 years.
They are in possession of valid documents that clearly establish title and valid occupation. The High Court ought to have given due consideration to all these documents instead of making allegations of vote bank politics against State, they said.
Additionally, the names of the local residents have been recorded in the municipal records in the house tax register and they are paying the house tax regularly.
They said there are five government schools, one hospital, two overhead water tanks in the area.
"Thus, the long physical existence of the petitioners, some even prior to Independence, has been recognised by the state government and its agencies by providing them with electricity and gas connections, enrolling them on voters list and providing them with Aadhar cards," the petitioners said.
