Prasad vs Prasad Joshi and ot her Vs. Execut ive Engineer, Nat ional

: Mr. Siddhart ha Singh, learned counsel for t he appellant s. …Respondent s Counsel for t he r espondent s. : Mr. C.S. Rawat , St anding Counsel Ut t arakhand. learned Chief t he St at e of JUD GM EN T : ( p e r Sr i G. N a r e n d a r , C.J.) Heard t he learned Chief St anding Counsel for t he St at e of Ut t arakhand, and t he learned counsel for t he appellant s.

2. The learned Chief St anding Counsel has placed on record t he writ t en inst ruct ions received by him from t he Office of t he Execut ive Engineer, Tem porary Division, P.W.D., Rishikesh ( Dehradun) , Manvendra Nagar, Near Railway St at ion dat ed 14.05.2025. The sam e reads as follows : “ Of f i ce o f Ex e cu t i v e En g i n e e r Tem porary Division, PWD, Rishikesh ( Dehradun) Manvendra Nagar, Near Railway St at ion 1 Office of t he Execut ive Engineer, Tem porary Division P.W.D. Rishikesh Phone/ FaxNo.: 0135- 2430660 E- MailI D: eet drksh@rediffm ail.com Let t er No. 998/ Court Case Dat e 14/ 05/ 2025 To, Chief St anding Counsel, Ut t arakhand High Court , Nainit al Su b j e ct : - Special Appeal 344 of 2024 filed in t he Hon'ble High Court of Ut t arakhand, Nainit al in relat ion t o Shri Execut ive Joshi Jagdish Engineer, Nat ional Highways Division, PWD, Dehradun. Prasad vs. Re f r a n ce : - Writ pet it ion No. 2715( M/ S) of 2024 Jagdish Prasad Joshi and ot her Vs. Execut ive Engineer, Nat ional Highway Div ison. Sir, Wit h reference t o t he aforem ent ioned writ pet it ion no. 2715( M/ S) of 2024; it is t o be inform ed t hat t he st aid place ( pet it ioner's house) is sit uat ed at km 2, hect are 4 t o 6 of Rishikesh Bhaniawala Mot or Road. The road was inspect ed by t he Division engineers, according t o which t he widt h of t he road at t he st aid place was found t o be 6.70 m et ers from t he m iddle point t o t he pet it ioner's house ( ram p) on t he left and 15.15 m et ers t owards Ram a Palace Cinem a on t he right . ( Ph o t o g r a p h a n d si g h t m a p a t t a ch e d ) At present , of m arking/ pillar const ruct ion/ widening et c. is being done on t he said road by t his sect ion nor is it proposed. I t is t o be inform ed t hat in t his regard, t alks were held wit h t he engineers of NHAI , Dehradun in which t hey have inform ed t hat t he work of widening on Rishikesh Bhaniawala Mot or Road is proposed by NHAI , Dehradun and earlier at t he t im e of survey of t he road, dem arcat ion pillars were inst alled by t hem in t he widening/ const ruct ion in t he said division will be done according t o t he current ly available widt h and no land acquisit ion and widening is proposed in t he said division. division, present t he Therefore, inform at ion. t he narrat ive kindly At t ached as above. Execut ive Engineer, Tem porary Division, PWD, Rishikesh”

3. A copy of t he let t er addressed by t he NHAI , t o t he Execut ive Engineer, also of t he even dat e, is also placed before t he Court . The sam e reads as under : 2 “ N a t i o n a l H i g h w a y s A u t h o r i t y o f I n d i a ( M i n i st r y o f Ro a d Tr a n sp o r t & H i g h w a y s, Go v t . o f I n d i a ) Pr o j e ct I m p l e m e n t a t i o n Un i t - V a s a n t V i h a r H o u se n o .1 7 1 , Ph a se - l , Va s a n t Vi h a r , D e h r a d u n – 2 4 8 0 0 6 Ph o n e : 0 1 3 5 - 2 7 6 0 0 0 1 Em a i l : p l u v a s a n t v l h a r @n h a i .o r g W e b : w w w .n h a i .gov.in NHAI / PI U- VSNT- VHR/ BHN- RSHK/ LA/ 8855 Dat e: 14.05.2025 To, Execut ive Engineer, PWD, Tem porary Division, Rishikesh ( Dehradun) . Sub : St at us in t he proj ect Four laning of Bhaniyawala- Jollygrant - Rishikesh spur sect ion of NH- 07 from km . 0.000 t o km 19.780 in t he st at e of Ut t arakhand under NH ( O) on Hybr id Annuit y Mode. Sir, t o I n ref, t elephonic discussion t he ongoing case in m at t er of WP( MS) no. 2715 of 2024 in Hon'ble HC of Ut t arakhand and in t his regards, following fact s are being brought int o kind at t ent ion: - regarding The const ruct ion of

2. t he Bhaniyawala- Jollygrant - Rishikesh spur t o NH- 07 proj ect has been awarded and Cont ract Agreem ent is signed in Decem ber 2023. The t ot al proj ect lengt h is 19.780 km in which 8.930 km lengt h is falling on forest land and t he rem aining lengt h is falling on non- forest land.

3. During t he preparat ion of DPR in 2022, widening of t he exist ing 4- lane highway t o a 6- lane configurat ion was proposed for t he sect ion from Nat raj Chowk ( Ch. 18+ 865) t o near Ram a Palace ( Ch. 19+ 780) in Rishikesh. During DPR survey, t he j oint inspect ion was carried out wit h t eam of PWD, revenue Depart m ent & NHAI and ROW of 30m t r. was considered t o be available at sit e. Hence, no addit ional land acquisit ion was proposed for t his sect ion, as t he exist ing 30- m et er Right of Way ( ROW) is sufficient t o accom m odat e t he expansion. Accordingly, no land has been acquired in t his sect ion. Subsequent ly, t he exercise of boundary pillars 4. inst allat ion was carr ied out at sit e. During t his exercise, it cam e t o not ice t hat t here is som e disput e bet ween PWD records and Privat e records at cert ain pat ches regarding wit h of Govt . Land in above sect ion under considerat ion. Hence, t he work of boundary pillars were im m ediat ely st opped and no furt her work was done in t his sect ion. 3

5. Present ly, t he com m encem ent of t he civil work has not been issued by NHAI t o t he concessionaire due t o Observat ions by t he Hon'ble High Court of Ut t arakhand at Nainit al in WPPI L No. 37 of 2025, which was filed in relat ion t o t he proposed t ree cut t ing wit hin t he forest area. Hence, no orders have been issued by NHAl t o concessionaire t o st art t he work in t his sect ion. Therefore, as such t here is no work st art ed in t he proj ect and it is also inform ed t hat NHAI shall st art t he work in t his sect ion only aft er due clart y in t he m at t er and aft er com plet ion of all due process of land acquisit ion, if required. Alt ernat ively, if t he land is not available at t hese sect ions, t he m odificat ion in t he proj ect configurat ion m ay be incorporat ed, if required in above sect ion from Nat raj Chowk t o near Ram a Palace ( ch. 18+ 865 t o ch. 19+ 780) . Thanking you, Yours Sincerely, ( Rahul Meena) Manager ( Tech.) For Proj ect Direct or PI U- Vasant Vihar Co p y t o : - RO- Ut t arakhand for kind inform at ion please.”

4. From a reading of t he above cont ent s, it is apparent t hat t he NHAI and t he PWD are in t he process of obt aining clarit y, regarding inaccuracies in t he land records, m aint ained in t he Revenue Office, and t hose m aint ained by t he privat e part ies, and have proposed t o proceed wit h t he acquisit ion, aft er t he inaccuracies are clarified, and a clearer pict ure em erges.

5. I n t hat view, t he present Special Appeal has rendered redundant . As a word of caut ion, t his Court would advice t he NHAI , and t he Execut ive Engineer, Tem porary Division, PWD t o adhere t o t he law of t he land, 4 in t heir endeavor t o lay new roads, or widening t he exist ing roads, including prior not ice of at least 15 days t o t he occupant s of buildings/ encroachers, and also t o resort t o proper verificat ion of land records, and proceed on t he said basis.

6. The present Special Appeal st ands ordered accordingly. As a sequel t heret o, t he m iscellaneous pet it ions, if any pending, shall st and closed. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ G. N A REN DA R, C.J. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A LOK M A H RA , J. Dt : 15 t h May, 2025 Rahul RAHUL PRAJAPAT I DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=aa4fa3bee6691397758b14516ed 3e66e61bf4c848741983ed8c39e4145cf1d ab, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=303B55CC3063D34AC45BF 8A192FCAD15C390A1AAD7B39857D2540 AE4C28A4898, cn=RAHUL PRAJAPATI 5