New Delhi/Shimla | July 14, 2026:
A significant constitutional challenge concerning the regularisation of encroachments on Government land in Himachal Pradesh has reached the Supreme Court. The apex court has issued notice and directed the parties to maintain Status Quo over the disputed property while hearing the appeal against a Himachal Pradesh High Court judgment that struck down Section 163-A of the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1954.
The dispute stems from a judgment delivered by the Himachal Pradesh High Court on 5 August 2025 in Punam Gupta & Another v. State of H.P. & Others, wherein a Division Bench comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Bipin Chander Negi declared Section 163-A unconstitutional, holding that the provision, which empowered the State Government to frame rules for regularising encroachments on Government land, was contrary to constitutional principles and the doctrine of public trust.
The High Court recorded that the State itself had disclosed approximately 57,549 cases of encroachments on Government land involving thousands of hectares, while more than 1,67,339 applications for regularisation had been received under the impugned framework.
| Case Title : | Himachal Pradesh & Others v. Punam Gupta & Another |
| Bench: | Hon’ble Mr. Justice Vikram Nath and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sandeep Mehta |
| Court: | Hon’ble Supreme Court of India |
| Special Leave Petition (Civil) Diary No. | 12300 of 2026, Arising out of: CWP No. 1028 of 2002 decided by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh on 5 August 2025 |
| Decision Date: | 14 July 2026 |
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