Encroachment on public land has become one of India’s most persistent governance failures, quietly hollowing out commons that belong not to the state alone but to society at large. From village ponds and grazing fields to urban footpaths, parks, and roads, public property has steadily been appropriated through a mix of population pressure, administrative complicity, political patronage, and prolonged inaction. What is often projected as a humanitarian or developmental dilemma is, at its core, a question of rule of law and public trust.
https://countercurrents.org/2025/12/encroachments-and-the-erosion-of-indias-commons/
The Supreme Court of India has, over decades, articulated a clear and consistent position on this issue. Public land is not a negotiable asset, nor can illegality be cured by time, construction, or political assurances. In judgment after judgment, the Court has underlined that such land is held in trust for the community and that encroachments, however longstanding, do not generate legal rights.
Even where human hardship is undeniable, the Court has drawn a careful but firm line. In Olga Tellis vs Bombay Municipal Corporation (1985), while recognising the right to livelihood as part of Article 21, the Court clarified that pavement dwellers do not acquire a right to occupy public thoroughfares. Due process and humane procedure were mandated, but the legal character of pavements as spaces meant for public movement was not diluted. Compassion, the Court made clear, cannot translate into permanent occupation of public land.
The law on encroachments is no longer ambiguous. What remains uncertain is the will to implement it consistently.
by Ashish Singh
15/12/2025