“Can’t uproot 50,000 people in 7 days”: Supreme Court stays Haldwani eviction

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the order of the Uttarakhand High Court to remove more than 4300 families in Ghafoor Basti located in the Banbhoolpura area of Uttarakhand’s Haldwani.

“There cannot be uprooting of 50,000 people overnight. There has to be segregation of people who have no right on the land and the need to rehabilitation while recognising the need of railways,” the Supreme Court stated.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka passed the order while issuing notice to the State of Uttarakhand and the Railways in a batch of special leave petitions filed against the judgment passed by a division bench of the High Court on 20 December 2022, LiveLaw reported.

Order –

We have put to the ASG that full rehabilitation of the persons in the area is needed. Issue notice. In the meantime there shall be stay of the directions passed in the impugned order. There should also be restrain any more construction/development on the land.

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) January 5, 2023

Thousands of residents were protesting the move to demolish the Muslim-majority locality.

The top court posted the matter to 7 February 2023, asking the State and the Railways to find a “practical solution.”

On December 20 last year, the HC bench of Justice R C Khulbe and Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma directed the Railways “to use the forces to any extent determining upon need, to evict forthwith the unauthorised occupants after giving them a week’s time to vacate the premises”.

The Muslim residents in the area who have been protesting the demolition move, said to Maktoob that the government is encroaching upon Muslim houses, shops and lands in Haldwani.

They also claimed that they have government schools, tanks and registration papers since generations. “How were these made on railway land?” ask the demonstrators.