"Want Our Forest Land Cleared": Supreme Court On Aravali Encroachment

The petitioners were seeking stay on demolition of the constructions which the Supreme Court denied saying petitioners failed to produce documents in support of their claim.

"We want our forest land to be cleared", the Supreme Court said on Thursday while refusing to stay its direction asking Haryana and the Faridabad municipal corporation to remove encroachments, consisting around 10,000 residential constructions, in Aravali forest area near Khori village. The court termed as "misconceived" the grievance of the petitioners, who were seeking stay on demolition of the constructions, that they are not allowed to produce documents in support of their eligibility regarding rehabilitation under the existing scheme. "The concerned occupants of the unauthorized structures standing on the forest land were given sufficient opportunity to do so after notification was issued by the corporation in 2020, after the order dated February 19, 2020 was passed by this court," a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said in its order. "Needless to observe, this court had already recorded the assurance given by the corporation that action against unauthorized structures standing on the forest land will be taken by following due process and in accordance with law, including to examine the claim of the occupants for rehabilitation as per the existing rehabilitation scheme," it said. "That assurance has been reiterated and is so recorded in this order as well".