In a landmark judgment, the High Court of Himachal Pradesh has declared Section 163-A of the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act of 1954 as “manifestly arbitrary and unconstitutional.” This provision was introduced in 2002 to allow the state to regularize encroachments on government land. It has been held by the court that the said section violates Article 14 of the Constitution which provides for equality before the law.
A division bench comprising of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Bipin Chander Negi remarked that the provision practically legalized illegal acts enabling a select class of persons to derive benefit from encroachments. The judges noted that the law was for a class of dishonest persons and thus could not be supported.
Eviction to Be Completed by February 2026
The court has ordered that the state of Himachal Pradesh shall initiate eviction proceedings against all illegal encroachers and finish the same preferably by February 28, 2026. The state reported that more than 57,000 encroachment cases exist, covering around 10,320 hectares of public land. Furthermore, encroachment regularization applications above 1.6 lakh were pending as of August 2002.
Considering the enormity of the situation, the court also proposed amending laws regarding “criminal trespass” and instructed the municipal authorities including official from nagar panchayats and municipal corporations should report on and act against encroachments diligently. Any stay orders, if existing for removal of encroachments, now stand vacated.
Historic Policies and Immediate Impact
As noted by the court, the regularization policies date back to 1983, permitting small-scale encroachments to be legalized on payment of insignificant penalties. The most recent amendment in the rules was made in 1987, fixing the cut-off date for eligible encroachments.
Just after this ruling, that is, on July 2, an order was passed by the same bench to cut down apple trees illegally planted on forest land, which has now been challenged in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has granted a stay against the felling of green trees while upholding the removal of illegal encroachments.
The Advocate General has been asked to send the judgment to the Chief Secretary and other concerned authorities for its immediate and complete implementation.
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