Next hearing to decide future course of action
TNR News Network
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ordered status quo on the Himachal Pradesh High Court’s decision that struck down the five-bigha land regularisation policy as unconstitutional.
The High Court, on August 5, in the case of Poonam Gupta vs State of Himachal Pradesh, had declared Section 163-A of the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act invalid and struck it down.
The matter reached the Supreme Court through a petition filed by CPI(M) leader and former secretary of Himachal Kisan Sabha, Dr Omkar Shad. The case was heard by a bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta. The petitioner’s counsel informed the court that a special leave petition (SLP) was filed on September 16.
After hearing the matter, the Supreme Court tagged the intervention application along with the SLP and directed that status quo be maintained until the next hearing.
Petitioner argues HC decision will hurt farmers
The Himachal Pradesh High Court had directed the state government to initiate eviction proceedings against all encroachments. Section 163-A dealt with certain powers and procedures related to land revenue administration, including mutation and correction of records.
The petitioner argued that striking down the provision would create an administrative vacuum and negatively affect farmers and rural landholders. He termed the Supreme Court’s interim order as crucial for protecting farmers’ interests in the state.
1.65 lakh applied under land regularisation policy
The land regularisation policy was introduced in 2002, under which people encroaching on government land were invited to apply for ownership rights. More than 1.65 lakh applications were submitted under this scheme.
The policy initially allowed regularisation of up to five bighas of land, but later, the then BJP government amended the Land Revenue Act to insert Section 163-A, extending the benefit to 5 to 20 bighas. In August 2002, a division bench of the High Court had allowed the process of considering applications but had stopped short of permitting allotment of pattas (ownership deeds).
