'They Are Also Human Beings': Supreme Court On Railway Land Encroachers In Haldwani, Urges Rehabilitation Before Eviction

Taking a soft stance on encroachers who have occupied Railway land in Uttarakhand's Haldwani, the Supreme Court on Wednesday (24 July) urged authorities for rehabilitation before eviction.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan was hearing the Railways' plea seeking upliftment of stay from the eviction ordered by the Uttarakhand High Court (HC) in December 2022.

The stay was put by the Supreme Court in January 2023 and has been extended multiple times since then. The Railway wants to evict around 50,000 people because it needs the land parcel for its operations.

Explaining in the court, the Railway said that a retaining wall protecting the tracks was demolished by the violent flow of the Ghuala River during the monsoon, creating a need for another strip of the land.

However, the court came down heavily on the Railways for not doing anything against the encroachers for many years. It pointed out that even the Uttarakhand HC order was based on a PIL, not Railways' plea.

Calling the encroachers "human beings", the court noted, "They are residing for decades. These are all pucca houses. Courts can't be ruthless, but at the same time, courts cannot encourage people to encroach."

"The fact remains that people have been living there for three to five decades, perhaps even before independence. What you have been doing all these years? Justice Kant questioned the Railways.

The court ordered that first, the Railways should identify the strip of the land it needs and then identify the families who are likely to be affected in the event of vacation from that strip.

It asked the Railways to propose a site where such affected/uprooted families can be rehabilitated. It has given four weeks' time to the Railways and the next hearing is scheduled on 11 September.