By Our Special Correspondent
The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to remove the encroachments on the lands belonging to the panchayat, municipal, and forest and revenue departments.
While the Panchayat Raj Department was asked to remove the encroachments within six months, the High Court directed other departments to identify the encroachments within two months and then take steps to remove them.
The court also asked the government to ensure that the encroached lands are not re-encroached. Officials were asked to follow due process in removing encroachments.
The High Court cited the previous Supreme Court ruling that panchayat lands cannot be regularized in someone else's name and all encroachments on panchayat lands should be removed.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice DVSS Somayazul issued these orders in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Bussa Rajendra seeking to direct the concerned authorities to protect government lands, water bodies, forest lands and playgrounds. . And cemeteries from occupations.
The petitioner claimed that although the state government had issued GEO 188 in 2011 making provisions for eviction of encroachments, the authorities had failed to take any action on such allotments.
The bench said that the government had issued GEO 188 based on the Supreme Court verdict.
Comments