On Monday, the SC will hear arguments against the Uttarakhand High Court’s order to remove encroachments in Haldwani

On Monday, the Supreme Court is slated to hear a case in which it temporarily delayed the Uttarakhand High Court’s instructions to remove encroachments from 29 acres of property in Haldwani that the railways had claimed.

The appeals against the high court ruling are scheduled for consideration on August 7 before a bench made up of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia, according to the cause list posted on the website of the supreme court.

On May 2, the supreme court said that its temporary order freezing the high court’s December 20th instructions would remain in effect while appeals were pending before it.

According to the highest court’s judgment from May 2, “the interim order(s) is made absolute during the pendency of the appeals.”

As it was a “human issue” and 50,000 people could not be uprooted overnight, the top court on January 5 postponed the high court’s orders to remove encroachments from 29 acres of property in an interim ruling.

The railroads estimate that there are 4,365 people encroaching on private property. In Haldwani, the residents have previously staged demonstrations to claim ownership of the property. On the contested property, approximately 4,000 families and close to 50,000 people—most of whom are Muslims—live.

The highest court had questioned the attorneys for the railroads and the state government during the hearing in May over how long it would take them to come up with a solution.

It had taken notice of the Center’s counsel’s statement that efforts were being made to come up with a suitable solution as soon as feasible.

The Uttarakhand government and the railways had already received letters from the supreme court requesting their replies to a number of arguments contesting the high court’s decision for the demolition of encroachments.

The high court in Haldwani ordered the destruction of buildings on allegedly encroached railway property at Banbhoolpura on December 20 of last year.

It had mandated that the encroachments be removed after giving the encroachers a week’s notice.

The residents argue in their argument that the high court committed a serious mistake by issuing the challenged ruling while knowing that the district magistrate is now hearing procedures pertaining to the title of the inhabitants, including the petitioners. In a region of 29 acres of land in Banbhoolpura, there are houses of worship, schools, commercial buildings, and homes.

The petitioners assert that they are in possession of legal documentation proving their right to petition.