Headnote
AI-drafted · Reviewed and approved
The petitioners, members of a tribal community residing in forest area of Andharua Gram Panchayat, Khordha District near Bhubaneswar, filed this writ petition as a Public Interest Litigation opposing the alleged unauthorised deviation of a road from the original Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP). The petitioners contended that the realignment was intended to evict tribal occupants and demolish their dwelling houses, religious shrines and community activity centres, which are entitled to protection under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
The petitioners sought declarations that the road realignment was illegal, arbitrary and contrary to law, and prayed for writs of mandamus, certiorari and prohibition directing the authorities to desist from implementing the alleged illegal realignment, to proceed with construction along the original gazetted road trajectory notified on 14 May 2018, and to restrain eviction and demolition of villagers' structures without due process of law.
The two writ petitions raising connected issues concerning road construction, tribal forest rights and displacement of tribal communities in the Bhubaneswar peri-urban area were heard together by a Division Bench of the Orissa High Court comprising the Chief Justice and Justice Murahari Sri Raman.
Catchwords:
Public Interest Litigation · tribal forest dwellers · forest rights · road realignment · Comprehensive Development Plan · eviction · demolition · scheduled tribes · traditional forest dwellers · Bhubaneswar Development Authority · writ of mandamus · writ of certiorari · writ of prohibition · Articles 226 and 227
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