Sunday, 01 OCTOBER 2023 | PNS | NAINITAL
The Uttarakhand High Court has stated that disconnecting the water and electricity connections of the residents living in the residential colony of Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (IDPL), Rishikesh is a cruel method to evict them. The single bench of justice Pankaj Purohit has directed the State government to restore the water and electricity connections within 72 hours. After the closure of the IDPL plant, the government is demolishing the illegal structures in the area but the petitioners in this case have contended that they are not illegal occupants as the quarters were allotted to them when they were employees of the company. In the past the High Court had ordered a stay on their eviction but now their electricity and water connections were severed. After the expiry of the IDPL land lease, the Forest department had served eviction notices to the people living in the IDPL colony. The residents had approached the court and secured a stay on their eviction. After the authorities recently severed the water and electricity connections, senior citizen Gulshan Bhanot and Anni Bhatia along with MC Joshi, Raj Bajaj and others approached the Uttarakhand High Court. Hearing on their petition, the single bench of justice Pankaj Purohit stated that severing their water and electricity connections was unconstitutional, adding that it was a cruel method of making them evict their residence. The court also ordered the authorities to restore the water and electricity connections within 72 hours. The matter will be taken up for hearing next on November 30.
