[BREAKING] "Troubling": Supreme Court stays Uttarakhand High Court order on Haldwani eviction; urges rehabilitation

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the Uttarakhand High Court order directing removal of encroachments on Indian Railways' land in Uttarakhand's Haldwani, which would have led to eviction of more than 4,000 families who are residing on land [Abdul Mateen Siddiqui vs Union of India and ors]..A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and AS Oka disapproved the manner in which eviction was sought to be carried out by the Indian Railways."There shall be a stay on the directions passed by the High Court," the top court ordered.We have not stayed the proceedings and only the directions of the High Court have been stayed, the Court clarified.The Court also said that there shall be no further construction or development on the disputed land. The order was passed after noting that the case involves land which has been in possession of those affected for many decades with most of them claiming title to the land and many having lived on the land for 60 to 60 years.Hence, there should be measures for rehabilitation since the issue involves a human angle. "What is troubling us is how do you deal with a situation where people bought in auction and took possession after 1947 and acquired title. You may acquire the land but what to do now> People lived for 60-70 years some rehabilitation has to be done. There must be a culmination to the issue and we do not encourage what is going on," Justice Kaul said.He further pointed out that even in cases of clear encroachments with people having no rights at all, governments have often rehabilitated the affected. "Even in those cases where there are no rights at all even in them rehabilitation has to be done. But in some cases where they acquired title.. you have to find a solution. There is a human angle to this issue," he remarked..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 High Court gravely erred in holding that the Public Premises Act is not applicable to the Railway Authorities, the petitioners submitted."The said error is multifaceted. Firstly, the applicability of the Public Premises Act was not challenged and no relief qua the same was sought in the PIL and hence the High Court ought to not have taken it upon itself to enter into an undisputed issue"..Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioners, said that the possession of the land has been with the petitioners since prior independence and government leases have also been executed in their favour. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for Indian Railways, submitted that due process has been followed and the land in question belongs to the Railways. The Court after hearing the parties issued notice to State of Uttarakhand and Indian Railways and posted the case for further consideration on February 7. .[Read order]