Kolkata, May 15 -- The Calcutta High Court on Thursday stayed the operation of an eviction notice issued by the Eastern Railway to residents living near Brace Bridge Railway Station, observing that several legal questions concerning the eviction process require examination.

The matter came up before Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya on a petition filed by Sahidul Laskar, who claimed to be representing residents living in the area adjacent to the railway station premises.

The petition challenged the action initiated by the railway authorities to evict the residents from the area.

During the hearing, senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, appearing for the petitioner, referred to a notice dated May 9, 2026, which had allegedly been pasted on the walls of the structures where the residents are staying. The notice directed the occupants to vacate the property along with their belongings within 48 hours from the issuance of the notice. The petitioner argued that although the notice referred to the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971, no proceedings contemplated under the Act had been initiated before the eviction move was undertaken.

The court observed prima facie the notice was not addressed to any particular person or group of persons but appeared to have been issued generally against all occupants of the public premises in question.

Further, the notice did not refer to any order passed under the provisions of the 1971 Act or under any other statute.

Justice Bhattacharyya observed that the court would have to consider whether the occupation of the petitioner and other residents could fall within the definition of "unauthorised occupation" under the law and whether the provisions of the 1971 Act could be applied for evicting the occupants from the premises. The court further observed that it would also have to examine whether the statutory procedure for eviction had been followed by the authorities.

The court passed an interim order staying operation of the May 9 notice till May 20, 2026, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. The matter will next be heard on May 19.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.