'Encroachers on Railways land got no vested right': Supreme Court on houses provided to Haldwani occupiers

The apex court noted that the land dispute has traversed different courts and observed that the stalemate cannot be allowed to continue endlessly.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said encroachers of railway land in Uttarakhand's Haldwani do not have a vested legal right to live over there, indicating that over 5,000 families will have to vacate the place for the proposed expansion project.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi noted that the dispute over the land has traversed different courts and observed that the stalemate over encroached railway land cannot be allowed to continue endlessly.

The court directed the Centre and the state authorities to ascertain the eligibility of families residing in the area for Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana (PMAY) after end of Ramzan, between March 15 and March 31.

The bench also directed the Nainital collector, Haldwani sub-division officer and other officials including members of the district-level legal service authority to visit the area and set up a camp to assist the families occupying the land to fill the forms and formalities for taking benefit of the scheme.

The bench said the court will appreciate if the applications by eligible families for the PMAY scheme are filled by March 31.

The bench directed the collector and the secretary of the state legal service authority to file a status report.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioners, submitted that they have been staying in the area which falls in and around the Haldwani railway station for over four to five decades.

He said that the state government had earlier said that they would regularise the area but nothing was done.

The bench, however, said, "It is a public land or to say it is railway land, a fact which is not in dispute. You are actually getting a concession for being there. You cannot claim it as a right to be there. You are getting a concession because the authorities slept over the illegalities for years."

"There is no question that it is the land of the state and it is prerogative of the state to decide how to use the land. Only thing is they have been staying there and now the issue is when they are asked to leave, they be given some cushion. Our prima facie view is that it is more of a privilege and less of a right," the bench added.

Bhushan said that for the expansion project not all land was required and the railways can take only whatever was required or shift the project.

The bench, however, said that the court cannot ask the railways to shift the project as it is for the experts to do so.

The court also said, occupants cannot dictate how Railways should utilize the land.

The bench opined, it was unsafe and risky for the people to stay so close to railway lines, and it was better than they move to a better place.

Senior advocate Collin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioners, said there are several religious places in the area and people need resettlement before being displaced.

The bench, however, told him, "Have mercy on these people. They are residing in unhygienic conditions where there is no potable drinking water, electricity and sewage arrangement. Let them decide if they want a house under the PMAY scheme and if there are any impediments, the court will take care of it."

Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati said that land was required for the Railways expansion project.

She said, the displaced eligible families can be given houses under the PMAY scheme either in Uttarakhand or in Uttar Pradesh and, if needed, Rs 2,000 per month for six months can be given to them.

The bench posted the matter for further hearing in April.

On January 5, 2024, the Supreme Court had stayed the Uttarakhand High Court's order directing eviction of over 4,000 families within seven days in Haldwani allegedly on 29 acres of Railways land, saying there can't be overnight displacement as it is related to a human issue.

Subsequently, the court told the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary to convene a meeting with the Centre and Railways for rehabilitation of over 50,000 people, who were sought to be removed from railway land in Haldwani.

It had said, "people have been living there for past three or four decades" and "they are human beings and courts cannot be ruthless".