A major decision of the Supreme Court has come on Tuesday (February 24, 2026) in the Banbhulpura Railway land encroachment case of Haldwani. The court has ordered to vacate the land for the railway project in Haldwani. The court said that the 50 thousand people living on the land can apply for houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. After Ramzan on March 19, a camp will be organized for submitting applications, where these people will be able to apply.
The court said that the District Magistrate will take the decision on the housing eligibility of the families. Railways wants to expand facilities in an area of ​​30 hectares. Some of this land belongs to the Railways and some to the state government. The state government is ready to give the land. This project was stopped due to encroachment on both types of lands. Now the next hearing of the case will be in April.
According to the report of Bar and Bench, the bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing the case. CJI Surya Kant made a strong comment and said, ‘Why should those people be forced to live there, when there is another place with better amenities. Railways will need land on both sides for any ambitious project. The people living there cannot decide where the line should be laid and where not.
The CJI said, ‘The appellants do not have the right to insist on rehabilitation of this land. This land is necessary for the railway project. They should apply under PM Awas Yojana, most of them fall in the economically weaker category. It is important that the livelihood of the petitioner is not affected, hence he should apply under the PM Awas Yojana.
Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that there is no doubt that this land belongs to the state government and it has the right to decide how it should be used. He said that the only question here is whether the petitioners are living there and when they are asked to leave, how should they be rehabilitated so that they can get some relief. He said that the first opinion of the bench is that this is more of a help and less of a right.
CJI Surya Kant told Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, ‘This land belongs to the state government, which will be given to the Railways. See if the state government can acquire some land under the PM Awas Yojana and instead of compensation, houses should be built and given to these people because the future generations will also have to be thought of.
(With inputs from Nipun Sehgal)
