6343-DB H ON ’ BLE TH E CH I EF JUSTI CE SRI G v. St at e of Ut t arakhand & ot hers

: Mr. S.K. Mandal and Mr. Aj eet Kum ar Yadav, learned counsel Counsel for t he respondent s : Mr. B.S. Par ihar, learned Addit ional Chief St anding Counsel assist ed by Mr. S.M.S. Meht a, learned Br ief Holder for t he St at e / respondent Nos. 1 and 5 : Mr. Sanj ay Bhat t , learned counsel for respondent Nos. 2 t o 4 Th e Co u r t m a d e t h e f o l l o w i n g : JUD GM EN T: ( p e r H o n ’ b l e Th e Ch i e f Ju st i ce Sr i G. N a r e n d a r ) This int ra- court appeal is prefer red being aggriev ed by t he order of t he Learned Single Judge, w hereby t he Learned Single Judge has been pleased t o accept t he cont ent ion of t he respondent s t hat in t he light of t he bar under Art icle 243- O of t he Const it ut ion of I ndia, t he w rit pet it ion challenging t he elect ion process cannot be ent ert ained. 2) I t is t he case of t he appellant / pet it ioner t hat t he not ice for rem ov al of encroachm ent was issued t hree days 1 prior t o t he elect ion not ificat ion and it was wit h t he deliberat e int ent and m ot ivat ed. The act ion has been init iat ed wit h t he int ent t o pr event t he pet it ioner from cont est ing t he elect ions. 3) Mr. Anand Singh Negi, Assist ant Engineer ( I I I ) , I rrigat ion Sub Division, Khat im a is present befor e t he Court and has placed befor e t he Court cert ain phot ographs which are not conclusive of any t hing, and has also placed one regist er of encroacher s t o w hom not ices hav e been issued pur suant t o an order of t his Court dat ed 26.12.2024, w her eby t his Court act ing on a report of t he Sub Divisional Magist rat e, w herein six encroacher s have been nam ed, proceeded furt her and direct ed t he const it ut ion of a t hree m em ber com m it t ee by t he Dist rict Magist rat e, and furt her dir ect ed t hat all encroachm ent s be looked int o and be r em oved. I t t he case of t he depart m ent al Engineer t hat pur suant t o t he direct ion com m it t ee has been const it ut ed, and encroachm ent s hav e been ident ified, and not ices have been issued t o 80 per sons. The not ice r egar ding t he encroachm ent would st and even as of t oday and has not been int erfered wit h by any aut horit y, superior aut horit y or by a court of law. 4) I n t hat view, w e do not find any ground which will warrant int erfer ence wit h t he order of t he Lear ned Single Judge. Though w it h regar d t o t he m aint ainabilit y of pet it ions relat ing t o t he rej ect ion of nom inat ion t his Bench has held ot herwise. That apart , it is seen t hat t he elect ion is slat ed t o 2 be held on 24.07.2025, and any direct ion at t his st age on account of paucit y of t im e is lik ely t o disr upt t he elect ion process. 5) I n t hat view t he appeal is rej ect ed wit h libert y t o t he appellant t o approach t he Tribunal and dem onst rat e t hat t her e is no any encroachm ent com m it t ed by him , and if such finding is rendered, it is open t o t he appellant t o sue t he depart m ent and, in part icular , t he officer for appropriat e dam ages. 6) The r egist er placed befor e t he Court is dir ect ed t o be ret ur ned t o t he learned Addit ional Chief St anding for t he St at e. 7) As a sequel t her et o, pending applicat ion, if any, shall st and closed. ________________ G. N A REN D A R, C.J. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A LOK M A H RA , J. Dt : 21 ST JULY, 2025 Negi HIMANS HU NEGI DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=bb3b60774012c1ef1dae20d13aaf 116e73351fdaf6878326386908a7f90d5757 , postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=75BD9D0FB7F4A80990FC5 1A722A6BC552D470EB4FD2F88DDF7C18 DB2A1524A4D, cn=HIMANSHU NEGI 3