Court seizes Office Chairs, television, etc, from agency that failed to compensate villagers who gave land for Narmada Dam oustees
Rs 30-crore aid due to villagers who parted with their lands for SSNNL to rehabilitate Narmada oustees
3 min read
Office chairs, computers and television sets were confiscated by bailiff of Dabhoi civil court as per a court warrant. ExpressOffice chairs, including that of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Sardar Sarovar Punarvasahat Agency (SSPA), as well as computers and television sets were confiscated by the bailiff of Dabhoi civil court as per a court warrant to recover a compensation of Rs 30 crore due to nine villagers, who had parted with their lands for the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) to rehabilitate the Narmada dam oustees.
As the bailiffs and the petitioners — all senior citizens — seeking compensation arrived at the SSNNL office in Narmada Bhavan compound in Vadodara city to execute the court warrant, they were met with vacant offices.
On Thursday, the Dabhoi civil court bailiff, along with petitioners, arrived at the office of the SSNNL and SSPA at Narmada Bhavan in Vadodara. Bailiff Sanjay Solanki said that as per the court warrant, the process was to attach “whatever movable items are available in the office”.
Thus several office chairs, including that of SSPA CEO and Chairman Amit Arora, as well as electronic items, comprising five computers and televisions were confiscated in the process.
The case dates back to 1990-91 when the SSNNL had acquired the lands of about 541 villagers across villages from Dabhoi taluka of Vadodara district — Seemdiya, Akota, Pansoli, Kukad, Vadhwana and Dabhoi — in order to rehabilitate families. As per the contention of the villagers, it had been decided that the SSNNL would pay a compensation of Rs 55,000 per bigha of land to the villagers, but it paid only Rs 23,000 per bigha, leading to a litigation.
Nine affected members of the family of Thakor Patel also filed a case in the Dabhoi civil court against SSNNL. At the end of 35 years of litigation, in December 2023, the civil court passed an order directing SSNNL to pay the petitioners adequate compensation as per prevailing market rates that amounts to about Rs 30 crore. Thakor said, “In March 2023, the Gujarat High Court had directed the Dabhoi civil court to decide the value of the compensation… As per the process, in December 2023, the Dabhoi court decided the amount, which is about Rs 29-30 crore for nine petitioners. However, even after 14 months from the order, not a single penny has been given. We approached the court again and sought that the property of the department concerned should be attached. A month ago, we also served the court warrant for attachment of moveable properties upon the office of SSNNL and the SSPA, which has constructed the homes to rehabilitate the Narmada oustees in Dabhoi. We were told that the compensation would be settled by February 21, 2025. But since no compensation came through, as per the court order, the moveable property of the court is being attached.”
Amit Arora, who is also the CEO of the Statue of Unity Area Development and Tourism Governance Authority, did not respond to calls and messages seeking a comment on the issue.
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