Calcutta High Court: no eviction of tea garden workers for a Land Port without due process of law
6 November 2026
A vacation bench of the Calcutta High Court heard a plea over the feared eviction of tea garden workers and other occupants from land meant for a Land Port. The Court said that even people called unauthorised occupants of government land cannot be removed except through the procedure established by law. It noted that the State's own report accepted that the people lived on the land. The right to equal protection of law, it said, covers those in palaces and in shanties alike. The Court did not stop the project; work may go on, but any demolition or eviction must follow the law. It also questioned the use of bulldozers against people holding a dharna. The merits were left open for the regular bench.
In plain words
Land Port Integrated check post at a land border — A border crossing with customs and immigration for trade and travel by road.
Vacation bench — A bench that sits during court holidays to hear urgent matters.
Due process of law — Following the procedure the law lays down before taking away a person's rights.