Opposition leaders welcome SC decision

Opposition leaders have welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to put on hold the eviction of some 4,000 families residing on land belonging to the railways in Haldwani's banbhoolpura area, as was ordered by the Uttarakhand High Court last month.

"The judgement of the Supreme Court will protect human rights. We all were worried about demolition rendering 52,000 people homeless. The SC has now stayed the demolition," said Harish Rawat, the Congress leader of Uttarakhand. "In 2016, we took steps regarding the rehabilitation of the people."

Former chief minister Rawat had staged a dharna at the site against the move to evict those who had been affected by the high court order.


CPI leader D Raja said, "It is a very positive and welcome order by the Supreme Court. The fact is the citizens of the country can't be arbitrarily evicted from their homes. It is also a failure of the government to provide proper homes for the poor."

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted, "Supreme Court has taken a humane view on #Haldwani and rightly observed that 50,000 people cannot be displaced in 7 days. It has emphasised the need for rehabilitation & recognised that many people bought land in 1947."