India, Oct. 14 -- The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the state government to finalise the land for rehabilitating the remaining eligible encroachers who occupy an 'eco-sensitive zone' of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). If by Thursday the land has not been identified, the court will initiate contempt actions against the state.

The division bench of chief justice Shree Chandrashekhar and justice Gautam Ankhad was hearing a contempt petition filed by the Conservation Action Trust in 2023. The trust's petition came after the Samyak Janhit Seva Sanstha in 1995 had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleging that the government had failed to rehabilitate slum dwellers in SGNP despite several court orders over 28 years.

The...