Stay on VSS Medical College eviction drive lifted

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has vacated a stay granted on eviction of encroachers in the VSS Medical College and Hospital campus and directed the state government to continue its eviction drive after dismissing the petition.

The division bench of Chief Justice V Gopala Gowda and Justice B N Mohapatra, while yesterday dismissing another petition with a similar prayer, asked the government to complete the eviction drive soon and submit a report to the court within 10 days.

Last year, the HC had asked the government to launch a massive eviction drive inside the campus of the hospital and remove all encroachments when the students of the medical college had alleged that anti-social elements were creating nuisances in the campus.

The court, however, had granted a stay after hearing a petition filed by Sasmita Panigrahi praying for a halt to the drive. Encouraged by the stay order obtained by Sasmita, another person Gouri Das, too, approached the High Court with a similar prayer.

But this time when the matter was listed before the court of the Chief Justice, the government counsel told the court that the eviction process had come to a halt because of the stay order granted by another bench of the HC.

The bench headed by the Chief Justice tagged both the cases and adjudicating over it jointly dismissed the petitions.