Nepal's top court directs govt not to evict squatters without proper rehabilitation plan

Nepals Supreme Court on Friday issued an interim order directing Prime Minister Balendra Shah-led government not to remove squatters without a proper rehabilitation plan. Nepals Supreme Court on May 4 ordered the government to submit the details of procedures followed in demolishing squatters settlements in the Kathmandu Valley.

Nepal's Supreme Court on Friday issued an interim order directing Prime Minister Balendra Shah-led government not to remove squatters without a proper rehabilitation plan. A joint bench of Justices Kumar Regmi and Nityananda Pandey issued the interim order to this effect on Friday, according to court officials. The order states that any action involving the removal of squatters or informal settlers and their relocation elsewhere must strictly follow legal procedures, taking into account the risk of irreparable harm to their constitutional rights, including education, health and housing, The Kathmandu Post newspaper reported. The bench also warned of a humanitarian crisis if such actions continue without proper safeguards. Gopal Ranpaheli and Gen Z leaders, including Tanuja Pandey and Majid Ansari, had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court on April 25, seeking a halt to the government's move to evict landless squatters. They demanded that the government halt the eviction of landless squatters from their settlement in Kathmandu's Thapathali, Manohara, Sinnamangal, or any other place on the banks of rivers across the country. More than 3,500 structures belonging to landless squatters have been demolished by the government in Kathmandu and hundreds of other settlements since last month in different districts outside the capital city for beautification and environmental protection. The Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Shah, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Kathmandu Metropolitan City and others have been made opponents in the writ petition. Meanwhile, hundreds of landless squatters on Friday staged a demonstration protesting the government's move to bulldoze their structures in various parts of the country, including in Kathmandu. Nepal's Supreme Court on May 4 ordered the government to submit the details of procedures followed in demolishing squatters' settlements in the Kathmandu Valley. Opposition parties and different civil society groups have also criticised the government on the demolition drive.