Supreme Court Stays Himachal HC Verdict, Maintains Status Quo in Trilochan Singh Case
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered to maintain status quo on the Himachal Pradesh High Court’s August 5, 2025 decision, which had struck down Section 163-A of the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1954 as unconstitutional. The order was passed by a division bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta during the hearing of Trilochan Singh vs State of Himachal Pradesh & Others.
Section 163-A, introduced in the year 2000, allowed one-time regularization of encroachments on government land. The High Court had ruled that this provision violated constitutional principles. By August 15, 2002, the state had received 1,67,339 applications, covering approximately 24,198 hectares of encroached land.
The petitioner, Trilochan Singh from Dharamshala, stated that he had applied on August 8, 2002, and was not an illegal encroacher but had lawfully received leasehold land from the Gram Panchayat. He claimed to have been residing and farming there for over five decades. Singh alleged that the High Court passed its decision without hearing his side, which violated the principles of natural justice.
The Supreme Court ordered the government to complete the process of removing illegal encroachments by February 28, as per the law, but maintained that the status quo must be upheld until the matter is fully heard.
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