CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has dismissed a writ appeal filed by the Koraput District Private Bus Employees’ Union, upholding a single judge’s order of rejecting their challenge to eviction from alleged encroached government land.
A two-judge bench comprising Justices Krishna Shripad Dixit and Chittaranjan Dash, in an order dated February 17, ruled that the appellants had no lawful right to continue occupying the land. It observed, “Encroachment on public land has indeed become a significant and growing menace in the state, which directly undermines administrative control and hampers planned urban development.”
The bench further noted that such encroachments “pose serious threat to public health, safety, and the environment and also reduce the space available for public roads and other essential public amenities”.
Observing that “Mere long-standing occupation does not ripen into a legal right when the initial entry itself is unauthorised”, the bench concluded that the appeal lacked merit.