SC upholds fine on Nainital church official for misusing laws to delay eviction proceedings

Time of India

24-05-2025

Dehradun: Supreme Court has dismissed a petition challenging an Uttarakhand high court order that fined a Methodist Church official for misusing legal procedures to delay eviction proceedings.
A SC bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh upheld the HC view that the church superintendent's legal move amounted to an abuse of the process of law.
The petition had been filed by the district superintendent of the Methodist Church in Nainital against a high court decision dated March 21, which imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 in a case under the UP Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1972, which provides a legal framework for evicting unauthorised occupants from public land and empowers authorities to issue eviction notices under section 4(1), allowing for a swift and summary process without prolonged litigation.
In this case, the proceedings were initiated against Naveen Bhan by district authorities, who served a notice under section 4(1). The Methodist Church superintendent later filed an application seeking impleadment in these eviction proceedings, claiming ownership of the property. The prescribed authority rejected his application on Jan 31, stating it was not relevant to the summary nature of the case.
The petitioner then approached the high court, which refused to interfere with the authority's order.
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The court noted that whether the Methodist Church owned the land could not be determined in summary eviction proceedings. It said the only issue at hand was whether Bhan was in unauthorised occupation of public property. "Anyone who claims to be the owner of the land in question is always at liberty to approach a civil court or any other competent court of law for a declaration of his rights or for other appropriate relief.
Thus, there is no scope for interference," the high court said.
The court found merit in the argument made by state counsel that the superintendent acted in collusion with Bhan to delay the eviction process. It concluded that the impleadment application was a misuse of legal provisions under the Act. "The petition is an example of abuse of the process of law; therefore, the same is dismissed with a cost of Rs 10,000, to be deposited with the high court bar association within two weeks from today, failing which it shall be recoverable through the district collector of Nainital," the court ordered on March 21.
The UP Public Premises Act is specifically designed to prevent delays in removing unauthorised occupants from public land and to allow for quick resolution without shifting the focus to ownership disputes. Authorities can recover rent or damages as arrears of land revenue, further strengthening enforcement under this law.