KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court (SC) has issued an interim order directing authorities not to displace squatters without proper management and due process.
The order was issued by a joint bench of Justices Kumar Regmi and Nityananda Pandey on Friday. The ruling comes in response to a writ petition filed at the Supreme Court after the government began removing squatter settlements.
The petition was filed by Gopal Ranpaheli, a resident of a squatter settlement, along with representatives of squatter groups including Arnab Chaudhary, Ojaswi Bhattarai, Tanuja Pandey, Majid Ansari, Prajwal Bikram Rana, Kabita Rai, and Bikash Kumar Gupta.
The petitioners sought a court order to stop the forcible eviction of landless people and squatters from settlements in areas including Thapathali, Manohara, and Sinamangal in Kathmandu, as well as other riverbank settlements across the country.
Following their request, the Supreme Court issued the interim order restraining eviction without proper arrangements.
Earlier, the government had deployed bulldozers to remove squatter settlements along riverbanks, including in Thapathali.
The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Balendra Shah, Ministry of Home Affairs, Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Nepal Police, National Human Rights Commission, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Kathmandu Municipal Police Force, and the National Land Commission have been named as respondents in the case.
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