Repeated railway eviction notices could amount to contempt of court, says RALOA

DIMAPUR, AUG 17 (NPN): Railway Affected Landowners’ Association (RALOA) has expressed displeasure over what it called repeated eviction orders issued by the Railway department to landowners despite a court-ordered status quo, saying such actions could amount to contempt of court and create an “unpleasant environment.”
RALOA senior adviser S. Hukavi Zhimomi said the Railway department should refrain from taking “unilateral decisions” while the state government was working to resolve the land dispute through a high-power committee. He said the committee was formed to examine landowners’ concerns and explore withdrawal of court cases if adequate compensation was provided, besides studying the status of patta lands in Dimapur.
Zhimomi said patta lands were properly recorded and surveyed, with detailed maps and records available. He said any agency, department, company, NGO or individual claiming land within patta areas must have the relevant mouza number, dag number and patta documents. Without these, he said, such claims should be considered “fake.”
On non-cadastral land, he said village authorities had jurisdiction within their respective areas and such claims should be properly examined before a final report was submitted to the government. RALOA said the Railway department should avoid actions that could override or provoke landowners, go against court orders or undermine the high-power committee’s work.
Zhimomi warned that if such actions continued, RALOA would no longer remain a “silent spectator” and would pursue the legitimate rights of affected landowners. He said the Railway department would be held responsible for any resulting issues.