The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the Maharashtra government order attaching the railway stations of the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd (KRCL) in Maharashtra till next date of hearing of the petition.

Senior Advocate Arun Jaitley mentioned the matter before a bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and J M Panchal seeking direction to the Maharashtra government restricting it from taking possession of the railway stations of the Konkan Railway.

The court said it would hear the petition when it come up for hearing, but cautioned the state government not to take any action in the matter.

Mr Jaitley said: “After the refusal of the Bombay High Court to grant interim relief, the state government went berserk and gave 12 hours notice to pay and have attached the railway stations.” They have seriously jeopardised operations and have interfered with the working of Railway, he added.

The state government had demanded revenue on the land used by the KRCL under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Act as the organisation is a corporation and not Indian Railways, which is exempted from paying revenue. The government however admitted that all other railway lands within the state are exempt from land revenue under the Article 285 of the constitution, Mr Jaitley said.