Observing that 50,000 people can’t be uprooted by using force without examining their rights, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed Uttarakhand High Court’s direction for the eviction of more than 4,000 families having their dwellings in Haldwani’s Banbhoolpura area whose ownership is now being claimed by railway for the expansion of Kathgodam Railway station.

Staying the high court’s order that has led to protests in Haldwani, a bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Abhay S. Oka said that 50,000 people cannot be uprooted overnight without examining their rights.

Issuing a notice to the Railways, and the Uttarakhand government, the court posted the matter for further hearing on February 7.

“Issue notice. In the meantime, there shall be a stay of the directions passed in the impugned order. There should also restrain any more construction or development on the land,” the court said in its order.

Recognising the railway’s need for creating infrastructure, Justice Kaul said that there is a human dimension of the issue as people are living there for over 60 years, they have got to be segregated between the occupant and those having no rights while underlining the need for their rehabilitation.

During the course of the hearing, the court said, “What is troubling us is how do you deal with a situation where people bought the land in the auction and took possession after 1947 and acquired title. You (railways) may acquire the land but what to do now? People live for 60-70 years, some rehabilitation has to be done. There must be a culmination to the issue and we do not encourage what is going on.”

The Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati told the court that the strip of land that is being sought to be cleared belongs to the railways and those occupying it and facing eviction are asserting that land belongs to them and are seeking rehabilitation. Bhati said that Kathgodam Railway Station does not have any space for expansion and there are 4365 unauthorised occupants of the railway land

At this, the court said that may be all of them cannot be painted with the same brush, there may be different categories. “But there are people for whom a human angle needs to be considered. Someone will have to examine their documents,” the court said.

The Uttarakhand High Court had on December 20, 2022, ordered the removal of encroachments from railway land in the Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani after giving one week advance notice to the residents.

Congress MLA from Haldwani, Sumit Hridayesh had approached the top court on January 2, 2023, challenging the High Court’s order. Advocate Prashant Bhushan has filed another petition.

Residents have been protesting against the removal of encroachments from railway land in pursuance to the High Court order.

The petition has highlighted that people faced with the prospect of eviction are poor and have been lawful residents of Mohalla Nai Basti, Haldwani district for more than 70 years.

The petition stated that the names of local residents are entered in the municipal records of the house tax register and that they have been paying house tax regularly for years.

There are five government schools, one hospital and two overhead water tanks in the area. It is further stated that “the long settled physical possession of the petitioners and their ancestors, some even prior to the date of Indian independence, has been recognised by the State and its agencies and they have been given gas and water connections and even Aadhaar card numbers accepting their residential addresses.”