Shimla, Sept 26 – The Himachal Pradesh High Court has made it clear that all encroachments on forest land in the state will be removed without exception and no leniency will be shown.
A division bench comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Bipin Chander Negi reiterated that eviction orders must be implemented by October 31, and encroachers cannot claim protection under the 2002 encroachment regularisation policy.
The court observed that the policy does not provide for regularisation of encroachments on forest land and had already been struck down in the Poonam Gupta vs State of Himachal Pradesh case on August 5.
The directions came after affidavits from the Shimla Deputy Commissioner and the Chief Conservator of Forests confirmed illegal encroachments.
The SDM Kotkhai, during verification, found that out of 238 cases reported from Baghi and Ratnari forest beats, 75 cases involved government land encroachment covering 33-05-24 hectares.
The bench ordered the state government to begin eviction proceedings promptly in line with the timeline fixed by the court and directions of the Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue and Forest).
Both the DC Shimla and the Theog Forest Officer have been asked to file compliance reports by November 26. The matter will next be heard on December 9.
In a related case, the court also pulled up the Palampur Assistant Collector First Class for issuing eviction warrants despite a stay order passed on February 21.
He has been directed to appear personally on October 7 and explain his conduct.
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