Current Summary
A tribunal in Dehradun has ruled that a boundary wall demolished during a 2018 anti-encroachment drive was pulled down illegally and in defiance of a Supreme Court order, directing the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) to pay the affected property owners Rs 5 lakh in compensation with interest. District Judge and Tribunal presiding officer Harish Kumar Goel delivered the ruling on Thursday in a case brought by three sisters, Pooja, Pinky and Poonam Singh, whose family property on Neshvilla Road, Dehradun, had been owned since a 1969 registered sale deed with a building map sanctioned in 1970. Their boundary wall was demolished on July 13, 2018, by an anti-encroachment task force accompanied by police and earthmoving equipment, led by then Mussoorie sub-divisional magistrate Meenakshi Patwal and then city magistrate Manuj Goyal, as part of a wider drive following Uttarakhand High Court directions. The tribunal noted the Supreme Court had since modified those directions, requiring individual notice and a reasoned order before demolishing existing structures — a process the tribunal found was not followed in this case. The petitioners were represented by Senior Advocate Yogesh Sethi.
What We Know
- The tribunal ruled the July 2018 demolition of a boundary wall on Neshvilla Road, Dehradun, was illegal, null and void.
- MDDA has been ordered to pay Rs 5 lakh compensation with interest to the Singh sisters — Pooja, Pinky and Poonam.
- The family had owned the 0.13-acre plot since a 1969 sale deed, with the building map sanctioned in 1970.
- The tribunal found the demolition, carried out under a 2018 anti-encroachment drive, violated a later Supreme Court modification requiring individual notice and a reasoned order before demolishing existing structures.
- The case was heard by District Judge and Tribunal presiding officer Harish Kumar Goel.
What Is Still Unclear
- Whether MDDA intends to appeal the tribunal's order.
- The current status of the family's property and whether reconstruction is planned.
What Changed
- 1 Oct, 09:40 pmSignal detected: Tribunal Rules Dehradun Demolition Illegal, Orders MDDA to Pay Sisters Rs 5 Lakh
Background
The demolition was part of a wider anti-encroachment drive following Uttarakhand High Court directions, which the Supreme Court later modified to require individual notice and an opportunity to respond before removing existing structures.