SUPREME COURT UPDATES

Supreme Court refuses to halt the demolition of 10K houses in Haryana village

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to halt the demolition of over 10,000 residential houses at Khori Gaon in Faridabad district, Haryana, for encroachment on forest land.

A bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari told a counsel appearing for villagers as mentioned in news published,

“We want our forest land to be cleared. We have given you enough time, if you want to continue it is at your risk. This is forest land and not any other land.” The top court passed the order on a PIL seeking a stay on the demolition of residential houses.

The top court said in its opinion, no indulgence is required to be shown by it at this stage and permitted the petitioners to produce documents at the municipal corporation concerned. The bench emphasized that people had enough opportunity to vacate the forest land after February 2020.

The top court said the corporation and state government may proceed on the basis of the commitment given to it on an earlier occasion and in an order dated June 7, 2021.

The PIL sought directions to the authorities to follow the rehabilitation procedure before conducting any demolition drive, and also provide temporary shelter to the evicted slum dwellers in view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

On June 7, the bench had said the corporation should remove all encroachments on forest land not later than 6 weeks and report compliance under the signature of the chief secretary and secretary of the Haryana Forest Department.

The top court has posted the matter for further hearing on July 27.

Photo by Jose Antonio Gallego Vázquez on Unsplash

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