Haldwani eviction: Supreme Court says land belongs to Railway, encroachers cannot dictate terms

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the residents facing eviction due to the railway expansion at Haldwani do not have any right to insist for rehabilitation at the same site.

A Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipin Pancholi remarked the people who have encroached the land cannot dictate terms to the Railways.

"Why to insist for them to stay there when there can be another place with better amenities. For any ambitious project there is vacant space needed on both sides. The people staying there cannot dictate where to railway should lay line etc," CJI Kant said.

The Court said those affected can apply for rehabilitation under the PM Awas Yojna since most of them would fall under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category. However, the Court made it clear that the stalemate cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.

"It is highly desirable that livelihood of petitioner is not affected and thus let applications be filed under PM Awas Yojna," the Court added.

More than 4,000 families are facing eviction from railway land in Haldwani’s Banbhoolpura area after an Uttarakhand High Court order passed in December 2022 directed the removal of encroachments.

Those facing eviction have been living on the land for many decades, and moved the present plea after the High Court refused to grant them relief.

It was contended that the BJP-ruled State government did not argue their case properly before the High Court as a consequence of which the Court ruled in favour of the Railways. Further, the eviction of the petitioners would render them homeless since they belong to marginalised sections of the society.

The petitioners argued that adjudication of title in respect of an immovable property entails exhaustive examination of documents / witnesses, cross-examination of witnesses, review of pleadings etc., which could not have been done by the High Court in a summary proceeding under Article 226 of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court in January 2023 stayed the High Court decision and called for measures to rehabilitate them.

Pertinently, the Bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan in July 2024 objected to the Indian Railways piggybacking on orders passed in a public interest litigation (PIL) petition to evict the persons instead of following the procedure prescribed under law.

Today, the Court said there was no dispute over the fact that land belongs to the State, which only can decide its best use. The Court added that the question now was only of rehabilitation.

"Our prima facie view is that it is more of a help and less of a right," Justice Bagchi said.

CJI Kant remarked the people who have encroached the land cannot dictate terms to the Railways.

"Why to insist for them to stay there only when there can be another place with better amenities. For any ambitious project there is vacant space needed on both sides. The people staying there cannot dictate where to railway should lay line etc," CJI Kant said.

The Court then directed the Collector of Nainital and authorities at Haldwani to supply copies of the application form under PM Awas Yojna to the residents.

"In order to facilitate the application, we direct the member secretary of State Legal Services Authority to hold with them a rehabilitation camp at the site and ensure that every head of the family are persuaded to apply under the Awas Yojna," the Court further ordered.

The Court ordered that the exercise be carried out after March 19.

"Let a practical solution be found before March 31 and let camps be held till all families have applied. Let some counsellors, social activists and domain experts be engaged who can apprise the occupiers the benefits of PM Awas Yojna," the Bench further said.