New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary to convene a meeting with the Centre and Railways in connection with the rehabilitation of over 50,000 people, mostly Muslim, who have encroached on railway land in Haldwani, saying that "people have been living there for past three or four decades" and "they are human beings and courts cannot be ruthless".
A three-judge bench led by Justice Surya Kant said the state government will have to provide the scheme as to how and where these people will be rehabilitated. "The ultimate thing is that families have been living on this land for decades, they are human beings and courts cannot be ruthless and at the same time courts can't allow people to encroach on public properties…. Courts need to maintain a balance and the state needs to do something...," said Justice Kant.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Railways, said the railways has no policy in connection with rehabilitation and unfortunately huge chunks of Railway Land has been encroached, even up to safety operations. Justice Kant said the Railways had said that they are not aware of their own land, and they are on affidavit before us. The Uttarakhand government counsel said, in the disputed area, only 13 persons have freehold rights and four thousand three hundred and sixty-five families have encroached on land, where over 50,000 persons are living.
“We are talking about people who have been living here for the past three and four decades, five decades…before independence or after independence. The fact is that families' are living there….you want to uproot everything, this you have not done in all these years," said Justice Kant.
The state’s counsel replied that railways had filed several eviction petitions against them. The bench, also comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan, said railways had gone to the collector and why should not the court hold the collector responsible, and asked the authorities how much land do they require, the length and the width?
"You are dealing with human beings.…in question of taxpayers some reasonable opportunity should be given to those who are claiming title on the basis of documents….assuming they are encroachers, assuming everything against them, after all they are human beings living there for decades. It is not a question of one or two huts, these are all pacca houses, maybe 40 years or 60 years they are living there…," said the bench.
Bhati said the court should allow Railways to have safe operations so that the larger public interest of the whole area can be protected. "We abandoned the expansion plan of 2017….this is the last railway station before the hills. For the entire Kumaon region this is the only connectivity which is there. Now, the plan envisages trains like Vande Bharat etc, to go there but they need 24 coach's platform. We just do not have the space without removing the encroachments…”, said Bhati.
Bhati said the encroached land is required for expansion of the station and augment facilities like additional railway line etc., and without these facilities the Haldwani railway station cannot be made functional.
After hearing detailed submissions, the bench, in its order, said: “Hundreds of families have been living at the site for decades, we have impressed upon the Union of India and the state of Uttarakhand to undertake the following exercise: in the first phase identify the strip of the land, which may be essentially required for purpose of railway line or construction of necessary infrastructure. (2) to identify families who are likely to be affected in the event of evacuation from that strip of land. (3) the proposed site where such affected families can be rehabilitated”.
"Since point number 3 will require policy decision at the Union of India/ state level, we direct the chief secretary of Uttarakhand to convene a meeting with railway authorities and the ministry in Union of India (which examines rehabilitation scheme) subject to such terms and conditions, which may be fair, just, and equitable, as well as acceptable to all the sides," said the bench, in its order.
The Supreme Court was informed that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs examines rehabilitation schemes. The bench said the above exercise can be completed in four weeks and a compliance report to be submitted in court, and scheduled the matter for further hearing on September 11. According to the Railways, there are 4,365 encroachers on the land, while the occupants are holding protests at Haldwani asserting they are its rightful owners.
Nearly 50,000 people, a majority of them Muslims, belonging to over 4,000 families reside on the disputed land. The top court passed the order on a plea filed by the Centre seeking vacation of the apex court's January 5 last year's order which stayed the Uttarakhand High Court order for removal of encroachments from 29 acres of land claimed by the railways in Haldwani.
