DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand high court on Wednesday directed Haridwar-Roorkee Development Authority (HRDA) to withdraw its permission for plotting and group housing on agricultural and orchard land within a week.
A division bench of Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay was hearing a public interest litigation accusing the development authority of violating earlier high court and Supreme Court orders, and said that failure to withdraw the permit would result in contempt proceedings against the court.
The PIL, filed in 2023 by Haridwar resident Atul Kumar Chauhan, cited an HC order issued on June 19, 2018, stating that plotting and group housing could not be permitted on agricultural and orchard land due to limited agricultural and orchard land in the state. The state govt subsequently filed a special appeal against this order in the Supreme Court.
On April 30, 2024, the apex court, while disposing of the govt’s appeal, stated that there was no need to interfere with the HC order, and that the state govt could approach the high court to amend the order if it wished. However, the state govt did not approach the high court.
The petitioner submitted that HRDA had issued an order in its board meeting last year stating that it could plot agricultural and orchard land, and granted permission after obtaining legal advice from two lawyers. The petitioner argued that the permit defied both the Supreme Court and HC orders, resulting in the loss of agricultural and orchard land in many areas of Haridwar district.
The petitioner added that in its order dated Sept 4, 2023, the high court had directed that if plotting on agricultural land was prohibited, the order must be enforced. However, the petition noted that these directions have not been complied with to date.
