Shimla, Aug. 5 -- The Himachal Pradesh High Court is set to deliver a landmark verdict today on the long-disputed 5-bigha land regularization policy, bringing closure to a legal battle that has lasted over two decades.
A division bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Bipin Chander Negi had reserved the judgment on January 8 this year, after hearing petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Section 163-A of the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 2002.
This provision, introduced during the BJP government led by Prem Kumar Dhumal with Rajan Sushant as Revenue Minister, aimed to regularize encroachments on government land by granting up to 5 bighas to landless occupants and up to 20 bighas in select cases.
Over 1.65 lakh...