- विज्ञापन -
The case of cutting 45 apple trees on 15 bigha land in Chaupal in the year 2018 has reached the High Court. Its hearing in the High Court will be held after the holidays. The petitioner has challenged the decision of the Divisional Commissioner Shimla. The Divisional Commissioner had ruled that the land where the encroacher had planted apple trees belonged to the government.
This case will be heard in the High Court by a special bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Bipin Chandra Negi. The petitioner has challenged the decision of the Divisional Commissioner. The petitioner argues that the decision has been given based on the reply filed without evaluating any document.
The state government implemented the Public Premises Act 1971, under which all the wasteland and the land of the princely rulers were declared the property of the state government, whereas this land is neither the private land of any person nor of the government nor is it a wasteland.
According to the revenue records, this land belongs to the Badhan community, which got this land after fighting with the Gorkhas. This land is registered in the name of Kungu Nali Forest Chaupal in the year 1913-14. The people of other villages including the petitioner have been living on this land for centuries. He said that the government made a policy of planting trees in place of trees in 1977, which is not being followed.
In the year 2018, the Divisional Commissioner Shimla had ordered the cutting of apple trees on this land. Out of these, the department cut 45 trees. After that, the petitioner applied for a stay in the High Court and the High Court immediately banned the cutting of trees. After the decision of the Divisional Commissioner on 9 December 2024, the interim stay imposed by the High Court has also been lifted, against which the petitioner has filed a petition in the High Court. Now this matter will be heard in March.
The cases in which action has been taken by the government under the Public Premises Act 1971, those 28 cases will be heard in the Supreme Court on January 28. In December last year, the Supreme Court had sent back about 50 such cases related to encroachment to the High Court. Along with this, instructions were given to hear such cases again. The Supreme Court has said in its decision that facts were ignored during the hearing of these cases.
