On April 6, 2015, the Himachal Pradesh High Court passed an interim order to remove the “encroachments” on the forest lands in the state within six months. The interim judgement directed the state to remove “illegal structures” and “disconnect the electricity and water connections provided” to it. It also instructed to destroy and uproot all the crops and plants on the “encroached land” and take legal action in the cases of non-compliance. Consequently, the state forest department immediately launched an eviction drive and issued notices.
According to the representatives of the Himdhara Environment Collective, the order of the high court was unclear on the “rights of the affected people under Forest Rights Act 2006”. They claimed that the state was violating the provisions of the FRA as it failed to exclude the regions that may fall under the purview of the FRA. FRA empowers families who have traditionally lived in forests to claim their forest rights. It also highlighted that FRA explicitly stated that “No member of a forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribe or other traditional forest dwellers shall be evicted or removed from forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is complete”. However, the state government lacked the will to implement the act. It also failed to bring it to the notice of the High Court.
In Kinnaur, over 60 notices of eviction were served to encroachers. However, many of them were applicants awaiting regularisation of forestland rights, which the state had first proposed to do in 2002. In July, the affected held a rally at the Kinnaur district office to protest the eviction drive.
On July 26, the state government appealed to the interim order in the high court. However, the court dismissed the petition and upheld its order. It directed the state authorities to salvage the crops and fruits and utilise the earnings for planting forest species.
Since the protests from the civil society and the affected have intensified. According to them, the state is accountable for encouraging encroachments and failing to recognise the forest rights of the locals. Affected people have also filed petitions in the high court.
In December 2015, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs clarified the provisions of FRA to the state government after the latter registered FIRs against the “encroachers” in Kannaur. Many of them had already applied for individual titles under FRA.
On October 18, 2016, the high court ruled to remove encroachment on forest/ revenue lands more than ten bighas. By November that year, the state had already passed eviction orders for 8912 cases, out of the 10,307 identified cases, and evicted 5,143 in 12 revenue districts. However, as per the 2017 CAG Audit report, a total of 15,409 forest land encroachment were pending till March 2016.
According to Himalaya Niti Abhiyan, the forest department had already cut over 40,000 trees and destroyed orchards, as well as farmlands. They also highlighted that 5,409 individual claims and 283 community forest right claims were filed in Himachal, of which only 238 individual claims and 108 community claims were settled.
Then, the state government decided to utilise the Government Land and Disposal of Government Land Rules, 2002, for regularising encroachments of plots up to ten bighas. For which, approximately 1.65 lakh families applied as per a Himdhara study.
In April 2017, the high court permitted the state to proceed with the policy. In December, it also temporarily stayed the eviction from plots less than five bighas.
On December 27, 2018, the high court directed the state government to finalise the regularisation policy for different categories of encroachers, including poor, marginalised and landless persons. It stated that the Himachal government held power to identify and confer rights to some categories under public interest and welfare. It also directed the state to finalise the document by March 31, 2019.
While the regularisation policy came as a relief for “encroachers”, it does not resolve the larger concern over the state government’s reluctance to implement FRA to grant rights to the forest communities.
Demand/Contention of the Affected Community
Demand for legal recognition of land rights
Other Demand/Contention of the Affected Community
Region Classification
Type of Land
Common
Forest and Non-Forest
What was the action taken by the police?
How many people did the police detain or arrest?
What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?
Did the person face any violence while in police custody?
If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?
If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?
Legislation under which the accused was charged
Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?
In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?
Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?
Details of sources (names of accused, names and numbers of any lawyers, names of any police officers contacted)
Status of Project
Original Project Deadline
Whether the Project has been Delayed
Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users
Agricultural land
Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict
Source/Reference
Total investment involved (in Crores):
₹
640
Type of investment:
Year of Estimation
2016
Has the Conflict Ended?
Yes
When did it end?
December 27, 2018
Why did the conflict end?
Court decision in favour of community
The high court permitted the state to proceed with the policy to regularise encroachment. In December, it also temporarily stayed the eviction from plots less than five bighas.
Categories of Legislations Involved in the Conflict
Legislations/Policies Involved
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Whether claims/objections were made as per procedure in the relevant statute
What was the claim(s)/objection(s) raised by the community?
What was the Decision of the Concerned Government Department?
Legal Processes and Loopholes Enabling the Conflict:
Non-implementation/violation of FRA
Forced evictions/dispossession of land
Legal Status:
In Court
Status of Case In Court
Disposed
Whether any adjudicatory body was approached
No
Name of the adjudicatory body
Name(s) of the Court(s)
Himachal Pradesh High Court
Case Number
Cwp No. 1093 Of 2016 and CWP No. 2559 of 2018
Main Reasoning/Decision of court
Major Human Rights Violations Related to the Conflict:
Whether criminal law was used against protestors:
No
Reported Details of the Violation:
Date of Violation
Location of Violation
Government Departments Involved in the Conflict:
Forest Department, Tribal Development Department, HP High Court
PSUs Involved in the Conflict:
Did LCW Approach Government Authorities for Comments?
Name, Designation and Comment of the Government Authorities Approached
Corporate Parties Involved in the Conflict:
Did LCW Approach Corporate Parties for Comments?
Communities/Local Organisations in the Conflict:
Farmers and orcharders
What was the action taken by the police?
How many people did the police detain or arrest?
What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?
Did the person face any violence while in police custody?
If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?
If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?
Legislation under which the accused was charged
Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?
In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?
Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?
Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?
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