Supreme Court refuses to stay demolition of encroachments on Roshni land

The Supreme Court has refused to grant a stay on demolition drive against encroachment that was initiated by the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir on Roshni and Kahcharai land of the UT.

A bench of Justice MR Shah and Justice CT Ravikumar orally told the authorities not to demolish any houses.

The Counsel of the Union Territory raised questions on the locus standi of the applicants before the court, who sought stay on the demolition drive.

The Counsel for the petitioner submitted that a lot of tribals were living on those lands.

He also informed that a Special Leave Petition filed by the Jammu and Kashmir administration was also pending before the Supreme Court and they have not been made a party in the matter.

The Counsel appearing for the Union Territory told the Bench that the application has been served to them a day before.

Justice Shah said that they were not passing any order. He asked the authorities to instruct orally not to demolish any houses.

The Apex Court, however, said that it cannot grant a general stay at all so that others do not get benefit.

The removal of encroachments from the Roshni and Kahcharai property was notified by the Jammu and Kashmir administration by January 31.