Traders in Jadavpur whose shops were razed past Sunday midnight filed a petition in Calcutta High Court on Monday, challenging the railways’ eviction action.
The petition is likely to be heard on Wednesday, said sources.
An earth mover demolishes a structure in Jadavpur on Monday night
The petition cites a 1988 high court order that prohibited the eviction of traders from railway land without providing rehabilitation in a designated commercial area.
Monday’s demolition drive was not the first such instance violating the court order, alleged a lawyer representing the petitioners in court.
“Following a similar drive in the past, a contempt petition was filed in the high court. The railways then gave a written undertaking that they would not evict traders without fulfilling the conditions laid down by the court. It means the latest eviction was also in violation of the court order,” the lawyer said.
“There is due process of law. Before any eviction drive, notices must be issued. The affected people must be given a hearing to present their case,” the lawyer said.
Notices asking hawkers to remove illegal stalls from platforms were pasted at the station last month, hawkers said, though they could not specify the exact date.
Railway officials were tight-lipped. However, the “illegal structures” demolished past midnight did not belong to hawkers on the platforms. The structures stood on a piece of land near Platform No. 2.
A retired railway official said a notice must be served before any eviction. “In the case of structures with permanent roofs, a hearing must be held before eviction. An officer in the concerned railway division conducts the hearing. The occupant can also challenge the decision of the officer before a higher authority.”
Most structures razed on Monday had tin roofs.
Jadavpur station falls under the Sealdah division of Eastern Railway. The spokesperson for Eastern Railway declined to comment.
More than 100 stalls on the approach road to Howrah station were demolished in an operation between the night of May 16 and the early hours of May 17.
On May 22, the high court issued an interim stay on any future eviction of hawkers from the road leading to Howrah station. The stay will remain in force until June 10, when the case will be heard again.