Kathmandu, July 30 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered all tiers of government not to resort to forceful eviction of people from their settlements, no matter where they are living, for now.

Responding to a writ petition filed by a group of human rights lawyers and activists on Monday, a single bench of Justice Tanka Moktan directed government agencies to stop forceful eviction of the landless until further orders.

"The court has issued an interim order to stop forceful evictions and has called all the parties of the case for a hearing next week," Raju Chapagain, one of the petitioners, told the Post.

On July 18, Chitwan National Park officials burnt down two huts and destroyed eight others using elephants to evict Chepang families...