Shimla, Aug. 5 -- In a landmark judgment, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has struck down Section 163-A of the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, terming it unconstitutional and violative of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution.

The provision, introduced in 2002 to regularise encroachments on government and forest lands, was declared arbitrary and ultra vires to the Constitution.

The decision was delivered in a Civil Writ Petition, which had been pending for over two decades and was reserved for judgment since May 2025. The division bench, comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Bipin Chander Negi, strongly criticised the legislative move to regularise illegal land occupations.

In their words, "Article 14 is not meant to per...