Supreme Court orders halt on squatter settlement demolitions in Kathmandu

Kathmandu – The Supreme Court has issued an interim order to the government not to remove squatter settlements.

On Friday, a bench comprising Justices Kumar Regmi and Nityananda Pandey issued the interim order to halt the demolition of squatter settlements using bulldozers, according to Supreme Court Information Officer Nirajan Pandey.

The Supreme Court stated, “Considering the irreparable damage and potential humanitarian crisis that could arise from displacing squatters and unorganized settlers from their current residences without following the proper legal procedures for their relocation, the government is instructed not to forcibly remove or displace squatters and unorganized settlers without adhering to the standards and procedures mentioned in item no. 91 of the governance reform agenda approved by the Cabinet on 2082/12/13, as well as the circular issued by the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration to all municipalities and rural municipalities on 2083/01/17, and the letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs dated 2083/01/17.”