University Cannot Forcibly Evict Retired Employees From Quarters Without Due Process: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court has clarified that a university cannot forcibly evict alleged unauthorised occupants from its quarters with the help of the police administration without following due process of law, while dealing with a notice issued to retired employees of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya asking them to vacate university quarters.
A Division Bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Justice Sandip Kumar De was hearing an appeal filed by Tapan Panda and others against an order of the Single Bench which had effectively declined to grant interim protection in their challenge to a June 10, 2026 notice issued by the university.
The notice asked the appellants to vacate the university quarters and stated that failure to comply would lead the university authorities to “initiate appropriate proceedings for forcible eviction of the unauthorized occupants” with the help of the district police administration.
The appellants, who were retired employees of the university, argued that the language of the notice created a reasonable apprehension that they could be forcibly evicted without waiting for due process of law.
They also submitted that the university authorities had disconnected electricity supply to the premises, causing hardship to them.
The university, however, contended that the notice itself made it clear that appropriate proceedings would be initiated in accordance with law. It also submitted that the electricity supply had already been disconnected and, therefore, the prayer seeking protection against such disconnection had become infructuous.
The Division Bench, upon examining the notice, observed that it was essentially a precursor to an eviction proceeding under Section 4(1) of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971, or a similar statutory process.
However, the Court noted that certain expressions used in the notice were problematic.
“The expressions 'forcible' and 'with the help of the district administration' coupled with the intended initiation of appropriate proceedings are misfits and somewhat contradictory,” the Bench observed.
The Court took note of the submission made by the university authorities, on instructions, that the intention behind the notice was merely to inform the alleged unauthorised occupants that appropriate proceedings would be initiated in accordance with due process of law.
In view of this clarification, the Bench expressly held that the notice could not be treated as authorising forcible eviction.
“We deem it fit to clarify that nothing in the said notice dated June 10, 2026 would entitle the University authorities to forcibly evict the appellants, with the help of the district police administration or otherwise, without due process of law,” the Court said.
As regards the electricity connection, the Court held that the appellants' prayer seeking protection against disconnection had become infructuous since the electricity supply had already been disconnected.
The Bench, however, granted the appellants liberty to approach the Single Bench for appropriate relief concerning the disconnection, if they were otherwise entitled to such relief in law.
The Court directed that if such an application was made, the writ court would consider it in accordance with law and could, if necessary, impose appropriate conditions on the appellants.
Ultimately, the Division Bench found no apparent error in the Single Bench's order and disposed of the appeal without interfering with it, but subject to the clarification regarding forcible eviction.
Case: Tapan Panda and others v. The State of West Bengal and others
Case No.: MAT No. 1478 of 2026 with CAN 1 of 2026