SC To Hear Plea Against HC Order On Haldwani Eviction Tomorrow As Thousands Fear Homelessness

The Supreme Court will hear the plea against the Uttarakhand High Court order directing the removal of encroachments from the railway land in Haldwani.

Residents take out a candle march against the Uttarakhand High Court's order for removal of encroachments from the railway land, in Haldwani, Tuesday night. ( Image Source :PTI )

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear a plea challenging the Uttarakhand High Court's order directing the removal of encroachments from 29 acres of railway land in Haldwani on Thursday.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices S A Nazeer and P S  Narasimha posted the matter for hearing after advocate Prashant Bhushan mentioned the matter.

Bhushan submitted that the case -- of more than 5,000 houses in Haldwani being demolished -- is similar to the matter scheduled to be heard on Thursday.

The apex court agreed to tag the matter and posted the matter for hearing on Thursday.

Earlier, some Haldwani residents had moved the top court on the issue.

The Uttarakhand High Court on December 20 ordered the removal of encroachments from 29 acres of railway land in the town's Banbhoolpura area after giving a one week advance notice to encroachers to vacate it.

Thousands of residents of Banbhoolpura had protested the removal of encroachments, saying it will render them homeless and jeopardise the future of their schoolgoing children. The move will affect a large number of women, children and the elderly. 

Residents of Banbhoolpura area in Uttarakhand's Haldwani on Monday moved the Supreme Court against a recent high court order for removal of encroachments from 29 acres of railway land in the town. Led by Congress MLA from Haldwani, Sumit Hridayesh, residents of the area approached the Supreme Court challenging the high court's order, AICC secretary Qazi Nizamuddin said at a press conference here. The apex court will hear the matter on January 5, he said.

The Congress also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to take a humane view of the issue as removal of encroachments from the land will render 4,500 people homeless.

There are a large number of women, children and the elderly among those to be affected by the removal of encroachments. The Uttarakhand High Court had on December 20 ordered removal of encroachments from railway land in Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani after giving a notice to the residents one week in advance.

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)