A writ has been filed at the Supreme Court (SC), seeking a stay order against the installation of new border pillars in Parsa district stating that Nepali land has been encroached upon by such moves. 

The writ filed by Advocate Yagya Mani Neupane against the Office of Prime Minister, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Survey Department, states that “Nepali land has been encroached while setting up the new border pillars in Chhapkaiya area of Birgunj Metropolitan City-1 along Sirsiya River”.

The petitioner has sought an interim order to stop the installation of new border pillars and stick to the treaties between the two countries concerning the border management. “Such activities will affect Nepal’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Neupane has said in the writ.

Advocate Neupane demanded an immediate stop to the process of setting up of border pillars till the court’s final decision.

On Sunday, Nepal had asked the Indian side to allow Nepalis to use and cultivate around 50 bigha land in Parsa district that was located in the Indian territory until the row over cross-border holding is settled between the two countries.

“The international boundary between Nepal and India was demarcated in 1816 during the Treaty of Sugauli and later in 1860 and 1875. The setting up of new pillars are against the provisions of those treaties and those activities must be stopped without any delay,” Advocate Neupane has argued in the writ.

A Nepal-India joint survey team marked positions for new subsidiary boundary pillars between the main border posts 319 and 391 in Chhapkaiya area of Birgunj Metropolitan City-1.

“The Indian side has encroached around 300 metres of land in Sirsiya River. If this is continued, around 50 bigha land will fall inside the Indian territory,” the writ said. Neupane said that the agencies concerned have not taken any steps to stop such activities on the border.

Nepal and India had agreed to form a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) in 1980 to prepare a boundary map, to install boundary pillars that had gone missing or were damaged, to maintain existing ones and to resolve border disputes.

Several land owners in Chhapkaiya area in Birgunj came to know about their land slipping into the Indian side while the boundary pillars were being installed last week.

The JTC was mandated to prepare strip maps guided by the GPS, find data on encroachment of the no-man’s land, and fix boundary pillars to maintain the line of sight.