The Supreme Court on Wednesday fixed for 5 January the hearing of petitions challenging Uttarakhand High Court’s decision ordering the State authorities to remove encroachments from railway land in Haldwani’s Banbhoolpura area.
The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud who said the matter would be heard on Thursday. Advocate Prashant Bhushan mentioned the plea before the top court saying, more than 5,000 houses in Haldwani are being demolished and it is similar to the matter scheduled to be heard on Thursday. He requested the apex court to tag the matter along with the matter coming up for hearing on 5 January.
“Yes it will come up tomorrow,” CJI Chandrachud said.
The Uttarakhand High Court had on 20 December ordered the removal of encroachments from railway land in the Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani after giving notice to the residents one week in advance.
Led by Congress MLA from Haldwani, Sumit Hridayesh, residents of the area approached the Supreme Court on Monday challenging the High Court’s order.
A total of 4,365 encroachments will be removed from the area. Those facing eviction have been living on the land for many decades.
Residents have been protesting against the removal of encroachments from railway land in compliance with a High Court order.