MP govt rapped for allotment of land

A Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguli wrapped up arguments on the petition by Akhil Bhartiya Upbokta Congress.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved for final orders a petition challenging allotment of 30 acres of prime land in Bhopal city by BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government in 2006 to a trust named after its party chief the late Kushabhau Thakre.

A Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguli wrapped up arguments on the petition by Akhil Bhartiya Upbokta Congress after a two-day hearing in which it severely criticised the state government for the allotment.

The land situated at Bavadiya Kala in Bhopal,earmarked for public housing and health facilities and worth about Rs 8 crore,was allotted to the trust for Rs 25 lakh with Re 1 per acre collected as annual lease rent as against a market price of Rs 25 lakh per acre.

It was also alleged that the trust was registered only on October 6,2004,a week after the allotment was made on September 25.

On Tuesday,the Bench criticised the state government for failing to produce the original documents on the deal and,on one instance,said the papers before it are doctored.

The courts observations about how the bureaucracy now serves its political masters however provoked senior advocate Ravi Shankar Prasad to remark in open court that democratic institutions,including the Supreme Court,are also not what it was 50 years ago.

The Supreme Court of today is not what it was 50 years ago, he said.

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Agreeing with the counsel,the Bench referred to its own ADM Jabalpur judgment in 1976,which paved the way for the declaration of Emergency under the Indira Gandhi government.

Yes,the worse has come from here. It started in the 70s… in 1976,then again in 1986 the Maruti Udyog discretionary allotments to the President,Prime Minister,Lok Sabha Speaker and even the judges themselves which was upheld in the judgment, the Bench remarked.

The apex court said the common man who abides by the law today feels that he is a fool as bureaucrats,MPs and MLAs abuse discretionary powers enjoyed by them.

The man who abides by the law feels he is a fool. Every person who has the discretionary power has abused it. They may be MPs or MLAs. We are not referring to any party, the bench said.

(With PTI inputs)