HC scraps land acquisition in 3 Gr Noida villages,ups compensation elsewhere

It directed the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary to appoint officers not below the rank of principal secretary to inquire into the implementation of Master Plan 2021 without NCRPB approval,decisions to change land use,allotment to builders,and indiscriminate proposals for land acquisition.

A special bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan,S U Khan and V K Shukla passed the judgment on petitions filed by landowners of 42 villages in Greater Noida and 23 in Noida,challenging the acquisition of land by the Greater Noida and Noida Authorities over a period of time.

The court ordered an additional 64.7 per cent compensation,along with 10 per cent of the developed land,not exceeding 2,500 sq m,to be given to landowners in 56 villages,including Patwari,which filed the lead petition,and Badalpur,the ancestral village of Chief Minister Mayawati.

The three villages where land acquisition has been quashed are Yusufpur (Chak Sahberi),Asdullapur and Devla. Landowners will return the compensation and take back their land,the court said. Land acquisition proceedings in these three villages had been initiated between 2006 and 2010.

Several farmers expressed disappointment with the order,and said they would appeal.

“Our point was not just about compensation,but also whether the authorities were justified in invoking the urgency clause which takes away with the landowner’s right to present his view. We will approach the Supreme Court,” said Shiv Kant Mishra,counsel for the petitioners.

The court has left it to the two Authorities to decide whether to pay compensation to owners who lost land but did not go to court. The Authorities may also consider giving compensation to people whose petitions were rejected by other benches earlier,the court said.

The court allowed development works already approved by NCRPB as per its earlier Master Plan. It also disposed of petitions pertaining to six villages saying there had been too much delay in approaching the court. Acquisition proceedings in these villages — Nithari,Sadarpur,Khoda,Sultanpur and Chaura Sadatpur in Noida,and Alaverdipur in Greater Noida — began in 1999.

Dealing with petitions relating to Patwari village,the court said that previous judgments on the matter would now have only “precedential value”. The court approved a division bench order of July 2011 that had contradicted an earlier order passed in 2008 — and quashed the acquisition of nearly 590 hectares in Patwari.

Citing several Supreme Court orders,the court relied on the principle of “find(ing) a balance (between) competing interests”,and that land should be acquired in such a way that the “land-loser does not feel alienated and in fact,welcomes land acquisition”.