Gujarat High Court
Mohammed Salim Ansari vs State Of Gujarat on 29 December, 2023
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 21885 of 2023
With
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 21895 of 2023
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MOHAMMED SALIM ANSARI
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT
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Appearance in SCA/21885/2023:
MR MANAN A SHAH(5412) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1,2
for the Respondent(s) No. 2,3,4,5
MR JAY M SHAH, ASST. GOVERNMENT PLEADER for the Respondent(s)
No. 1
Appearance in SCA/21895/2023:
MR H M SHAH(3997) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1 to 8
for the Respondent(s) No. 2,3,4,5
MS HETAL PATEL, ASST. GOVERNMENT PLEADER for the Respondent(s)
No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J. C. DOSHI
Date : 29/12/2023
COMMON ORAL ORDER
1. As the facts and issues involved in the present petitions are one and same, I propose to decide both these petitions by this common oral order.
2. As learned advocate Mr.Mahesh B. Bariya appears for Western Railways, he requests to delete his name. In view of such request, Registry is directed to delete the name of learned advocate Mr.Mahesh B. Bariya from the appearance of Special Civil Application No.21895 of 2023.
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3. The petition being Special Civil Application No.21895 of 2023 has been taken as a lead matter. By way of this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the following relief/s is prayed by the petitioner :
"A. that YOUR LORDSHIPS may be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus/certiorari or any appropriate writ, order direction quashing and setting the impugned notice dtd. 16/12/2023 issued by the Respondent no.3 qua the property in question which is annexed at Annexure A to the present petition.
B. during the pendency and final disposal of the present petition YOUR LORDSHIPS may be pleased to stay operation of notice dtd. 16/12/2023 issued by the Respondent No.3 and further direct the Respondents to maintain status-qua with regards to the property in question, which notice is annexed at Annexure A to the present petition.
C. Grant such other and further relief(s) as deemed fit in the facts and circumstances of this case and in the interest of justice."
4. Facts in brief gardened from the petition stand as under :
4.1 The dispute pertains to the land bearing Survey No. 141 situated at mauje village Bhestan, Tal. Majura and District Surat (hereinafter referred to as the subject property for the sake of brevity), which land is of the ownership of the petitioners herein.
4.2 That the subject property was initially vested in the State Government as being declared surplus under the provisions of the Urban Land (Regulation and Ceiling) Act, 1976 and that thereafter, under the scheme of the State Government to regularize residential properties present in land acquired under the Urban Land Ceiling Act by way of Ordinance in 2016, the petitioners have made applications in the prescribed formats Page 2 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023 undefined to the concerned authorities and the receipts of the above said applications for some of the petitioners are collectively annexed to this petition.
4.3 That based on the said applications, the Competent Authorities have fixed consideration for regularization of the said lands which has duly been paid by the petitioners herein following which by way of order of the Mamlatdar under the provisions of Rule 6, sub rule 8/10 of the aforementioned ordinance of 2016, sanads with respect to the different sub-
plots of the said property have been issued in favor of the petitioners by imposing certain conditions in 2017 by order of the learned Mamlatdar.
4.4 That thereafter, pursuant to grant of Sanad, with a view to effect such change is the Revenue Records of the land in question, following which due to no objection being raised by any party, verified entry no. 3110 has been given effect in the Revenue Records of the land in question.
4.5 That the petitioners have also regularly paid all taxes including the property tax, water tax, drainage charges etc., with respect to their individually owned properties.
4.6 Furthermore, no proceedings of breach of conditions of the sanad issued to the petitioners have ever been initiated against the Petitioners and therefore also, the petitioners are clearly authorized occupants of the subject land. That the petitioners reserve their right to produce all of the aforesaid documents related to all the petitioners before this Hon'ble Page 3 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023 undefined Court if and when necessity arises to do so.
4.7 That on 16/12/2021, the Hon'ble Apex Court has passed order is SLP Diary No. 19714 of 2021 with 23559/2021, whereby the Hon'ble Apex Court has directed the Railway Authorities to serve notices to the occupants of unauthorized structures on Railway Property standing in way of proposed project for railway line between Surat Udhna upto Jalgaon (Third Railway Line Project).
4.8 That the said order dated 16/12/2021, the petitioners have been arbitrarily served with notice by the Railway Authorities directing them to evict the said property by dt. 30/12/2023, failing which forced eviction and demolition will ensue. That the said notices have been served even though the petitioners are not unauthorized occupants of the subject land and hold valid documents to support their case.
4.9 That a similar type of notice dated 16/12/2021 was served by Respondent No. 3 under the provisions of Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971, and the same was challenged by the then affected persons/writ- applicants by filing a Writ before this Court in the form of Special Civil Application being No. 4706/2022, in which the writ applicants were noticed to evict the property in question situated at Survey No. 141 situated at Village Bhestan, Taluka Majura, District Surat, in which the Co-Ordinate bench of this Court passed an oral order dated 09/03/2022 directing to maintain the status-quo with regard to the subject matter of the property.
Page 4 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023 undefined 4.10 Being aggrieved by the notice dated 16/12/2023 issued by the Respondent No. 3, which has been served by misinterpretation of the order of the Hon'ble Apex Court of India, the petitioners have preferred the present petition.
5. Heard learned advocates appearing for the respective parties.
6. It is submitted by the learned advocate appearing for the petitioners that the petitioners are the title holders of the disputed land and sanad has been issued by the Mamlatdar (ULC), Majura in favour of the petitioners after obtaining the necessary amount. He would further submit that the present petitioners are not the encroacher of the railway property. He would submit that the disputed property possessed by the petitioners is not on or alongside railway line and the petitioners cannot be considered as encroachers and as such, petitioners cannot be given notice at Annexure A pursuant to the judgment and order passed by the Hon'ble Apex Court in case of Utran Se Besthan Railway Jhopadpatti Vikas Mandal Versus Government of India & Ors., passed in Special Leave Petition (Civil) Diary No(s). 19714 of 2021. It is further submitted by the learned advocate for the petitioners that petitioners cannot be evicted from the land given to them under the guise of removal of encroachment on Surat-Udhna upto Jalgaon 3rd Railway Line. He would further submit that since the petitioners have been given the disputed land under the provisions of Urban Land (Regulation and Ceiling) Act, 1976 and sanad has been issued thereafter, the petitioners Page 5 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023 undefined cannot be considered as unauthorized occupants. He would further submit that the petitioners have obtained the disputed land under the ULC Act by way of Ordinance in the year 2016. The petitioners have made applications in the year 2018 to the competent authority in the prescribed format for regularizing their residential properties and the regularization amount is also paid and the petitioners are holding the possession legally since then as Mamlatdar has issued sanad in favour of the petitioners.
6.1 Above submission has been canvassed by the learned advocate for the petitioners to submit that the notice issued by the Western Railways is arbitrary and is in clear violation of Article 300A of the Constitution of India. He would further submit that rule of law directs that the petitioners cannot be deprived of the land without due process of law and Article 300A is determining and its resemblance with Article 21 and 265 cannot be allowed to go-by. Infact, they are giving the guarantee of supremacy of rule of law no less. He would further submit that the State of Union of India or any organ of the State of Union of India, if requires the land in question from the lawful possession and title of the petitioners, they have to follow the provisions of law, otherwise, the lawlessness would prevail.
6.2 Lastly, it is submitted by the learned advocate for the petitioners that since the petitioners are possessing the disputed property as a title holders, they cannot be evicted at threshold without following the procedure laid down by law and under the guise that the Hon'ble Supreme Court directed to Page 6 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023 undefined remove the encroachment. Thus, he submitted to grant the necessary reliefs.
6.3 Reliance is placed upon the interim relief granted by the Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in Special Civil Application No.4705 of 2022 to submit that the Co-ordinate Bench in identical matter has passed the order of status-quo and thus, the same may be applied to the present petitioners as well.
7. On the other hand, learned AGP appearing for the respondent - State Authorities would submit that the Western Railways is acting pursuant to the range of directions issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in SLP (Civil) Diary No. 19714 of 2021. Learned AGP would further submit that the Hon'ble Supreme Court keeping in mind the dictum of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation Vs. Nawab Khan Gulab Khan reported in [1997] 11 SCC 121, issued the directions to remove the encroachment along side the Surat-Udhna upto Jalgaon 3 rd Railway Line. The Western Railways is acting pursuant to such and has issued the notice for removal of the encroachment. The present petitioners under the guise of sanad without getting it clear that where they are standing and possessing the land tried to get the order of protection. Learned AGP would further submit that this court cannot pass any order against the directions issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Thus, the learned AGP submitted to dismiss the present petitions at the threshold.
8. In reply, the learned advocate for the petitioners would submit that the SLP (Civil) Diary No. 19714 of 2021 has been Page 7 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023 undefined disposed of by the Hon'ble Supreme Court after satisfying that the directions issued earlier were complied with and all the encroachers were removed from the site and thus the present petitioners cannot be considered as encroachers and thus submitted to consider the case of the petitioners. Learned advocate for the petitioners would also rely upon the decision of the Hon'ble Apex court in case of B.K. Ravichandra And Others Vs. Union of India and Others, reported in [2021] 14 SCC 703.
9. Having heard the learned advocates for both the sides, at the outset, it is to be pointed out that Writ Petition (PIL) No. 222 of 2014 was moved by one Rizwan Ahmed Usmani Vs. Government of India & Others before the Division Bench of this Court questioning the removal of along side encroachment on Surat-Udhna upto Jalgaon 3rd Railway Line project. The Division Bench of this Court vide oral order Judgment dated 19/08/2021 in paragraph nos.6 to 10 has observed and held as under :
"6. Because of the said interim order granted on 23.07.2014, obviously the said Project could not be completed so far causing direct and indirect financial and other loss to the Government and the Railways.
7. We understand the pain caused by displacement or dislocation of the hutment dwellers alongside the Railway line where this third line of the Western Railways has to be made, but their living there alongside the Railway tracks is a serious threat to their life itself and admittedly since the people belonging of this class do not have any proprietary rights over the said land in question, they cannot be granted any injunction against the Railways, so as to delay or stall such project of larger public interest.
8. In these circumstances of the case, the only submission made on behalf of the learned counsel for the Petitioner Mr.Majmudar, which Page 8 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023 undefined we can record, is that even if these persons belonging to this class are evicted or displaced or removed from the site of Surat-Udhna upto Jalgaon Third Railway Line Project land, they should be allowed to approach the State Government for considering the cases for suitable alternative accommodation under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana or Chief Minister Awas Yojana at other Government lands, subject to the fulfillment of conditions under those schemes.
9. Accordingly, we vacate the Interim Order dated 23.07.20214 granted by the Co-ordinate Bench of this Court and permit the Western Railways to go ahead and undertake SuratUdhna upto Jalgaon Third Railway Line Project on the land in question belonging to them and to use such appropriate and adequate force if necessary, for removal of the said hutment dwellers and encroachers from the land in question belonging to the Western Railways. Neither the said order dated 23.07.2014 nor any interim order granted in this regard in any other matter pending in this Court or lower Court will come in the way of Western Railways for this purpose and they should go ahead with the completion of this Project expeditiously.
10. In the circumstances of the case, we permit the Authorised Representative of the said class of persons, preferably an Advocate, without any political background to approach the Secretary, Urban Housing and Urban Development Department, State of Gujarat with the applications of the eligible persons who are affected by the said displacement or dislocation and the said Secretary or a person duly authorised by him in this behalf may consider such applications in accordance with law."
9.1 The order was carried to challenge before the Hon'ble Supreme Court by way of filing SLP (Civil) Diary No. 19714 of 2021. Hon'ble Supreme Court confirmed the order passed by the Division Bench of this court and thereafter, issued following directions :
"Hence, keeping in mind the dictum of this Court in Hence, Ahemadabad Municipal Corporation Vs. Nawab Khan Gulab Khan reported in (1997) 11 SCC 121, on that analogy, we propose to issue following directions:Page 9 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023
NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023 undefined
(i) The respondent Western Railways do immediately issue notices to the occupants of the concerned structures which are falling within the belt which is required immediately for commencing the remaining project work by giving two weeks' time to the concerned occupant(s) to vacate the respective premises;
(ii) In respect of the remaining land owned by Railways, even though it may not be immediately required for the project, similar notice be given to the occupants of structures standing thereon by giving six weeks' time to vacate the respective premises;
(iii) In either case (i) and (ii) above, the notices be issued within one week from today and if the occupants fail to vacate the unauthorized structure, it will be open to the respondent-Western Railways to initiate appropriate action to forcibly dispossess them and to demolish or remove the unauthorized structure(s) by taking assistance of the local police force. The Superintendent/Commissioner of Police of the concerned area shall ensure that adequate police force is deployed on the site and surrounding areas including to provide protection to the officials/staff engaged in the demolition of unauthorized structures and to facilitate them to commence the eviction process and demolition of the unauthorized structures, referred to in the eviction notices on the specified date and time;
(iv) Before commencing the process of eviction and removal of the structures, the Collector of the concerned District must ensure that necessary details about the names and number of persons occupying the concerned structure, including their identity and profile should be duly recorded, which record should be preserved by the Collector for considering the eligibility of those persons for being provided suitable residential accommodation after being evicted owning to proposed demolition action;
(v) The entity, who is the owner of the land, namely, Western Railways in this case as well as the local Government and the State Government shall be jointly and severally liable to pay a sum of Rs.
2,000/- per month per demolished structure for a period of six months from the date of demolition of their structure as ex-gratia amount to the head of the family/occupants unauthorized structure demolition action. That of the removed concerned during amount shall be initially paid by the Collector for a period of six months "only" (not beyond six months each) and shall be later on shared equally by the entity (owner of the land), local Government and State Government;
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(vi) In the event, the local Government has any rehabilitation scheme, the affected persons may apply for being rehabilitated under the said scheme, if eligible and subject to verification of eligibility and complying with all other terms and conditions of the prevalent scheme. The local Government may provide them suitable residential accommodation in lieu of rehabilitation owing to demolition of their structure;
(vii) If no rehabilitation scheme has been formulated by the local Government or is in force, the persons likely to be affected by the action of demolition can apply for allocation of residential premises under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna Scheme, which application be processed not later than six months from the date of its receipt and taken to its logical end, application-wise within such period.
(viii) Be it a case of rehabilitation under clause (vi) of (vii) above, the persons affected by demolition action by the Authorities cannot insist for allotment of alternative residential accommodation at the same place from where they have been evicted (as it is not in situ rehabilitation programme). The eligible persons be allotted accommodation wherever available in the same or even in neighbouring districts.
(ix) In addition, since the Railways have power to initiate civil/criminal action against the unauthorized occupants on the Railway property, must resort to those proceedings against the concerned persons immediately after it is brought to the notice to the concerned official of the Railways.
Further, the Railways being the owner of the property, as also the local Government and State Government must initiate appropriate action against the erring persons, including the officials of the concerned establishment for allowing and tolerating such encroachment and for not taking corrective action of removal of encroachments in right earnest and at the earliest opportunity.
(x) The status report of the action taken by the Railway Board as also by the local Government and State Government be furnished to this Court before the next date."
9.2 Notices were issued to the present petitioners pursuant to such order. Perusing the notice, the Western Railways has directed to remove the encroachment along side Surat-Udhna Page 11 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023 undefined upto Jalgaon 3rd Railway Line, but nowhere the Western Railways stated the petitioners to vacate the particular plot for which the petitioners are claiming that they have been allotted such plot by the ULC. Perusing the Annexure A, it appears that the Western Railways has directed to remove all the encroachment and hutment along side this railway line. The petitioners put different case and tried to put that they are not encroachers by referring the ULC documents and sanad. Learned advocate for the petitioners has failed to establish that the Western Railways has directed them to vacate the land which has been allocated to them by way of Sanad. At the cost of repetition, it can be said that the Western Railways has acted pursuant to the directions issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and the Western Railways is bound to do so. Under the guise of sanad, for some other land, the petitioners cannot claim that they are not encroachers. The Hon'ble Supreme Court while passing the range of directions has also taken care to address the grievance of the persons who are alike the petitioners and the same is also applicable to the present petitioners. The above directions came in the order passed in WPPIL carried to the Hon'ble Supreme Court.
9.3 Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Jagpal Sing and others Vs. State of Punjab and others, reported in [2011] 11 SCC 396 has taken a judicial notice that since independence, in large part of the country, unscrupulous persons using muscle powers, money powers and political influence have systematically encroached on public utility land. The Hon'ble Apex court has also observed that this has been done with the active connivance with the State Authorities and local power Page 12 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023 undefined vested interest and goondas. The Apex Court deprecated the action of the State Authorities either in allotting the public utility land in favour of a person or in permitting an encroacher to occupy such public utility land. It relied upon its earlier decision in M.Ι. Builders (P) Ltd. Vs. Radhey Shyam Sahu, 1999 (6) SCC 464, where the Hon'ble Supreme Court ordered restoration of a park after demolition of a shopping complex constructed at the cost of over Rs. 100 Crores.
9.4 To be noted that there is a special enactment which enables the Railways to protect its property i.e. its statutory and public trust obligation. It was open to the concerned authority to invoke the provisions of the special enactment including the Public Premises Eviction Act. The Estate Officers are duty bound to take action in right earnest at the earliest opportunity. It comes to the notice of this Court that the railways has issued the Indian Railways Works Manual. Chapter VIII of the IRWM deals with acquisition, management and disposal of land. Clause 813 deals with the verification of land boundaries. Clause 813(b) of the IRWM casts a duty on every Section Engineer to prevent or remove any encroachment that might have taken place. Further, Clause 813 (d) provides that the Section Engineer is also required to maintain a land boundaries verification register where details of encroachments are to be entered and the register itself is to be verified and countersigned by an Assistant Engineer Clause 814 of the IRWM lays down elaborate procedure for removal of encroachments. The Clause 814 of the IRWM is reproduced here under:-
Page 13 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023 undefined "814 Removal of Encroachments -
a) New encroachments shall be got removed promptly under provisions of section 147 of Railway Act 1989. For old encroachments where party is not amenable to persuasion for removal of such encroachments, action should be taken under the provisions of Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act 1971. Encroachment of railway land by railway staff also constitutes grave misconduct on their part and is 'good and sufficient reason for impositi major penalty after following the procedure laid down in the line and Appeal Rules.
b) When an encroachment is in the process of building up, it should be removed then and there.
c) Where the encroachments are of a temporary nature in the shape of jhuggies, Jhapies and squatters and where it may be difficult to take action under PPE Act the same may be got removed in consultation and with the assistance of local civil authorities.
d) Every year, at the close of financial year, detailed survey of encroachments must be made under the following categories :-
i) CATEGORY-A Encroachments by outsiders removal of which requires action under Public Premises Eviction (PPE) Act.
ii) CATEGORY- B) Encroachments by outsiders which do not require action under PPE Act (eg. temporary occupation of land by hawkers using Railway land for cattle, cow dung, refuse etc.)
iii) CATEGORY-C) Encroachment by Railway staff in the form of temporary huts etc.
iv) CATEGORY-D) Encroachment by Railway staff who have been allotted railway accommodation, by way of additions to the structures, unauthorised use of land for cultivation etc. Note: Category "A" encroachment is of the hard type and Category "B", "C" & "D" encroachments are of the soft types.
e) The Section Engineer (Works) should maintain details of encroachments in a register showing their incidence and removal with necessary details as given in Annexure 8.2 (Encroachment Inspection Register).
One page of this register shall be allotted to each encroachment. A scale plan of the encroachment shall be provided on the facing side. Once a case is opened the entries should not be discontinued unless and until the encroachment is removed. A note to that effect Page 14 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023 undefined should be made in the register. The frequency of inspection of encroachment shall be at least once in 3 months.
Section Engineer (Works) shall give a certificate in the following proforma, once in three months, which shall be verified and countersigned by the AEN.
"I................................ Section Engineer (Works) certify that I have inspected the Railway land in my section during the quarter ending ........................... and there have been no encroachments except at the locations shown in this register, that have been reported upon vide references given against each."
sd/-
Section Engineer (Works) AEN should submit every month the summary of the status of removal of encroachments to the Divisional Engineer.
Monthly progress regarding additions and removal of encroachments, filing eviction cases and their progress in court of Estate Officer, in Civil Courts etc. should be submitted by Divisions to Head Quarter.
Encroachment plans to scale shall be made for every encroachment. These encroachment plans along with details of encroachment as per Annexure 8.2 should be checked and signed by Section Engineer (Works)/AEN Records of such encroachment plans should be kept in the Divisional office and these encroachment plans should be handed over and taken over by Section Engineer (Works)/AENs at the time of change of charge.
A copy of encroachment plan should be available with Section Engineer (Works)/AEN/DEN/Sr.DEN. Any encroachment added or removed should be reflected in the encroachment plan. A copy of encroachment plan should be handed over by the AEN to SMS/RPF inspectors (where Section Engineer (Works) is not headquartered).
814 (f) Steps to control the unauthorised use of Railway land.
Following further steps should be adopted to control the unauthorised use of railway land :-
(a) For any addition/alteration of a pucca structure, written sanction Page 15 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023 undefined of the Divisional Engineer should be necessary. Any structure in which cement is used may be classified as pucca structure.
(b) For alteration /addition of any temporary structure, written sanction of AEN should be necessary.
(c) Plans for commercial plots at various stations should be approved jointly by Divl. Engineering and Commercial Officers and at site demarcation of the plots should be done with rail posts by Engineering Deptt. Whenever any commercial plot is licensed the Commercial Department should give a copy of the allotment letter to the Engineering Deptt. so that Section Engineer (Works) can ensure against any unauthorised use. The station Master should also have a copy of the approved plan of commercial plots at the situation. Station staff, including Commercial staff posted in Goods Sheds should firstly ensure that commercial plots are not misused and secondly, in case of any misuse and/or encroachment should immediately report it to the Engineering Deptt. for eviction and other action that may be necessary. This will also apply to the cases of any licensing for shops, tehbazari etc. in the circulating area and goods shed premises.
(d) To prevent imminent encroachments on vacant railway land, planting of suitable trees/ shurbs including quick growing thorny trees like Prosopis Juliflora (Vilayati Babul) should be adopted.
(e) Eviction process shall include interactions:-
(i) Identification of the existing encroachments
(ii) Ensuring that all the cases under the PPE Act have been filed.
(iii) Estate Officers should expedite finalisation of the cases pending with them.
(iv) Action for possession in accordance with the extant orders where eviction orders are received.
(v) Mobilisation of help of Civil Authorities by formal/informal requests at different levels till the required assistance is forthcoming.
(vi) Cases directed to the courts to be pursued for early finalisation with the help of the Railway Advocates."
9.5 What appears that the Railway Authorities taking action pursuant to the direction issued by the Hon'ble Apex Court and following the procedure laid down in Clause 814 of the Manual Page 16 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/21885/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/12/2023 undefined as above. Learned advocate for the petitioners failed to point out from the documents on record that the land which they have possessed on issuance of sanad is the same land for which the notice for removal of the encroachment has been given. It is a clear case that the petitioners, in order to, get the interim order for protecting the encroachment put different documents on record.
9.6 Upon the order dated 14/07/2022 passed in SLP Diary No. 19714 of 2021, the learned advocate appearing for the petitioners has unsuccessfully tried to submit that all encroachment along side Surat-Udhna upto Jalgaon 3 rd Railway Line is fully clear and thus, the present notice is illegal. The notice itself is clear and indicates that the Railway Authorities acting upon the earlier order dated 16/12/2021 passed in the same SLP. So far as the judgment, upon which the learned advocate for the petitioners has relied, is on different facts and footings and does not lend help to the case of the petitioners. In so far as the order passed by the Co-ordinate Bench is concerned, it is an interim order and secondly, the order does not contain any facts. Thus, it is not helping the case of the present petitioners.
10. For the reasons stated hereinabove, both the petitions fail to stand on legs, they have no merits and thus, they are dismissed in limine.
(J. C. DOSHI,J) Dolly Page 17 of 17 Downloaded on : Sat Dec 30 20:40:52 IST 2023