Shimla – The Himachal Pradesh High Court has upheld its earlier directives to continue removing illegal encroachments from forest land, making it clear that eviction proceedings must be completed before October 31 without any relaxation.
A division bench comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Bipin Chandra Negi observed that the 2002 Encroachment Regularisation Policy does not allow for the regularisation of forest land encroachments, and therefore, encroachers cannot claim any relief under it. The court referred to affidavits submitted by the Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, and the Chief Conservator of Forests, which confirmed that the encroachments were illegal and occurred on forest land.
According to the affidavit by the Deputy Commissioner, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Kotkhai found that out of 238 cases received from Ratnadi and Baghi forest beats, 75 involved encroachments on government land, covering a total of 33-05-24 hectares. The encroachers had sought regularisation of these occupations under the 2002 policy.
However, the court clarified that this claim was unfounded, as the High Court had already struck down the policy in the case of Poonam Gupta vs. State of HP on August 5.
The bench has directed the state government to expedite the eviction process in line with the guidelines issued by the Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue and Forests). It has also ordered the District Magistrate, Shimla, and the Forest Officer, Theog, to submit detailed reports on the action taken so far by November 26.
The matter will now be taken up for further hearing on December 9.
