The Politics Of Encroachments

For the left eco system, it’s yet another opportunity to demonise Modi Government. Bulk of the residents of disputed land in Haldwani happen to be Muslims.

The Supreme Court, on February 7 last, granted the State and the Railway authorities eight weeks' time to work out a solution, inter alia, for rehabilitation of the occupants, in response to pleas challenging the order of the Uttarakhand High Court directing removal of occupants from lands claimed by the Railways in Haldwani.

The Court had further asked the State and the Railways to find practical solutions. Justice Oka had emphasised, "Find out some solution. It is a human issue". Justice Kaul had told the State, "State of Uttarakhand has to find a practical solution".

There is still another case, almost a mirror image of the Haldwani one. Nearly a year and half back, on June 7, 2021, Supreme Court had directed the removal of illegal encroachments on forest land in Khori Gaon, a village at the foothills of the eco-sensitive Aravallis in Haryana's Faridabad within six weeks. The SC order had come while hearing a plea seeking a stay on the demolition of 10,000 odd houses in the area. The apex court back then observed that no compromise can be made with forest lands.

Later on, June 17, 2021, the Supreme Court upheld its decision to clear the illegal encroachments on forest lands and evict almost one lakh persons people from the encroached forestland. While hearing the pleas back then, Justice M Khanwilkar observed, "Environment is more important than your civil rights. Your civil rights are subordinate to the environment. Once a forest, it is always a forest unless it is denotified."

Back then, the Supreme Court bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari heard the matter and directed that the State of Haryana could proceed with the demolition. In a similar scenario, as is now in Haldwani, the illegal encroachers in Khori Gaon had submitted before the Supreme Court that the removal of encroachments would leave them homeless.

The counsel for the Kheri petitioners had also sought the protection of their right to rehabilitation as well as an identification process, to which the Supreme Court bench had rejected the petitioner's argument. The court stated that enough time was given to them and also stated that it is only concerned about the forest lands and rehabilitation is to be taken care of by the state government.

The Supreme Court upheld the importance of the environment in the Khori Gaon case over the civil rights of people and ordered the demolition of illegal encroachments on forest lands. Although the apex court also directed the state government to look after the rehabilitation of the displaced people.

However, in the case of illegal encroachment of Indian Railways land the Supreme Court has put a stay on the encroachment clearance drive. While the Supreme Court has asked the government to ensure the rehabilitation of the valid residents and find a suitable solution for the encroachers, the petitioners have not sought rehabilitation as they claim ownership of the land.

Here is a brief history of the Haldwani case, in courts for the last nine years. The Uttarakhand High Court decision (since stayed), came in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed in 2013. The petitioner had moved court against illegal sand mining in the area in the Gaula river that flows along the Haldwani Railway Station . However, the HC expanded the scope of the petition.

Talking to media, Vivek Gupta, a senior Railway official said "with the writ petition came the question of who are the people who are involved in illegal mining and why is it happening, and it was found that people living along the railway line were indulging in such practices. The Railways was then made a party and the High Court directed us to get the land cleared. The residents then went to the Supreme Court, which directed the High Court to listen to their side too. Last month, after hearing all the parties, the High Court once again found that the land belongs to the Railways and should be cleared after a week's notice. We now have to follow the order."

The Court had first ordered Railways to remove encroachment in the area, nearly seven years back, in 2016. The state had sought a review of that ruling, but that was dismissed in 2017. In 2016-17, a joint survey of the railways and the district administration identified 4,365 'encroachments'. Subsequently, the Supreme Court, hearing an appeal against the HC decisions, directed affected parties to file their objections before the High Court.

While the residents claimed ownership of the land through lease and sale deeds, the HC declared that the land belongs to the Railways relying on a 1959 notification.

It's obvious that this unsavoury chain of events has no political underpinning. The case was filed when Modi wasn't in power and the executive has no role in bringing the case to the present pass. The vexed issue so far been between the Courts and the affected litigants.

The ongoing controversy about the encroached Railway land in Haldwani has once again brought to fore all that's perverse in Indian public life and politics. A simple case of recovery of stolen public property through due process of law has been painted in lurid colours. False binaries and grotesquely twisted narratives are being set to obfuscate the issue.

For the left eco system, it's yet another opportunity to demonise Modi Government. Bulk of the residents of disputed land in Haldwani happen to be Muslims. According to this narrative, a Hindu majoritarian regime is using this sordid episode to target a hapless Muslim minority - an archetypal dystopian caricature of an unfortunate situation.

There is another binary of 'haves versus have nots'. The residents on disputed land are being victimised because they are poor and the system is heavily skewed in favour of the rich.

Are the encroachers suffering because they are poor? Do the rich in India always manage to dodge the law in such cases, by bribing or browbeating the system? The Supertech twin towers in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, were brought to rubble on August 28, 2022 after Supreme Court ordered the demolition.

Realty firm Supertech Ltd incurred a loss of about Rs 500 crores including construction and interest costs, because of the demolition. The twin towers were constructed in violation of the UP Apartments Act of 2010. Unlike the settlement in Haldwani, the illegal structures in Noida were built on the land owned by the errant builder, and they were literally bombed to dust. Apex (32 storeys) and Ceyane (29 storeys) were gone in 12-15 seconds.

The Noida authority is carrying on demolition of illegal farmhouses constructed on Yamuna flood plains. The authority has identified 1000 illegal farmhouses, out of which 150 farmhouses were razed to ground last year. The bell is tolling for the rest. Noida authority is collecting demolition expenses from the owners of the illegal farm houses, as well. It's pertinent to note that the farm houses, under demolition, though illegal, aren't standing on encroached land.

The Adarsh Housing Society is a 31-story building constructed on prime real estate in Colaba, Mumbai, for the welfare of war widows and personnel of India's Ministry of Defence. Several influential persons allegedly conspired and got themselves flats allotted in the society. The scam was unearthed in November 2010. Over two dozen flats were illegally allotted and of these, 22 flats were bought under fake names.

In 2016, Bombay High court ordered the building to be demolished. Following an appeal, the Supreme court ordered a stay on the demolition and now the disputed building is with the Indian army. The point to note here is, notwithstanding the high status of usurpers , law has deprived them of proceeds of crime.

Massive encroachments on public lands and illegal constructions are rampant, transcend economic and social barriers, and encapsulate all that's rotten in the country. Such illegal habitats come up over decades and grow into huge settlements, with all possible civic amenities. Is this possible without underhand deals between recalcitrant citizens, an indifferent or corrupt bureaucracy and self-serving political leaders?

(Mr. Balbir Punj is a Former Member of Parliament and a Columnist. He can be reached at: [email protected])

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.