Supreme Court to Uttar Pradesh Govt: Sinister campaign to grab land

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today slammed the authorities for taking advantage of the "colonial law" on land acquisition to divest farmers of their prime agricultural land benefitting the rich and paying "pittance" to common men.

The apex court said a "sinister campaign" has been launched by various state governments to take advantage of the law against the poor people for taking away the land and giving it to builders where multiplexes, malls, posh residential complexes are developed which are beyond the reach of common men.

"Do you think judges live in fools' paradise"? snapped a bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly when senior advocate P P Rao responded to a question that the residential complexes were being developed for the "needy".

"You are building hotels, malls, commercial complexes, townships where common men have no access. Does it come under the perception of public purpose for which the land have been acquired?"


The bench questioned the change by Uttar Pradesh government in land use in Greater Noida and said "this is not the plan for which the land is acquired. How different notifications came out for changing the use of land".

The sharp remarks were made by the bench during the hearing on petitions filed by Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority and real estate developers and builders, including Supertech and Amrapali, challenging the Allahabad High Court order which had quashed the notifications for land acquisition in Greater Noida adjoining the national capital.

The bench made it clear that it was not going to stay the High Court verdict and would go ahead with the hearing of the parties.

"We are indicating that we are not inclined to stay the order of the High Court. We are not inclined to entertain the special leave petition. We will ask only for your submissions," the bench said.

While Rao, appearing for Supertech, contended the development of residential complexes were for the "needy", the bench drew his attention to the brochure of the company saying "what is there in it is not for the poor people".

"Look at your own brochure. It is saying about swimming pool, spa, tennis court, badminton court, beauty parlour, ayurvedic massage etc. All these are for poor people?

"I am reading from your own brochure. Is it for a common man? Land is taken and given to the builder. This is a sinister plan," the bench said.

"Land is given for the development which must be inclusive. The state is taking advantage of the law against the poor. A sinister campaign is made by various state governments. The state is doing a totally anti-people thing," it said.

While maintaining that the purpose of the land acquisition was being defeated, the bench said the poorest man in society should benefit in public interest but "you (authorities) are responding in such a way that they (the poor and common men) are driven out".

"In the name of globalisation, you are marginalising the people. Why is there a proliferation of terrorist activities? Because they are pushed to the walls. Why so many people are committing suicide? They are marginalised. You are not taking care of them. Poor men cannot come to this court," the bench said.

The court expressed its anguish over the whole development in recent times where the emergency clause has been applied for acquiring land of farmers on the pretext of public purpose.

"The state is taking advantage of the colonial law. What you are giving to the common men is pittance," the bench said.

The High Court had on May 31 quashed acquisition of 170 hectares of land at Gulistan village in Greater Noida for industrial development.

The High Court had said that acquisition of land in Greater Noida for residential apartments, which was done after invoking Section 17 of Land Acquisition Act depriving the aggrieved persons of the chance to file their objections on the ground that the matter was urgent, was a "colourable exercise of power" and had quashed the notification.

The counsel, appearing for Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, contended the acquisition was part of its "well-known" 2021 plan called the Industrial Development Plan which is a generic term that includes commercial and residential use.

The High Court order had come on the plea of landowners and farmers who challenged the government notification for land acquisition issued on September 5, 2007.

Didi Ka Band Baja

LAND ISSUES LEAVE TRINAMOOL IN A FIX

Didi Ka Band Baja ( Sisters Band)
Da Ki Roshanai ( Brothers Lighting)
Diggiraja ki Dance Party ( Diggi's Dance Party)
Yuraj Ka hai Rajyabhishek
Amma, Bahanji Tum bhi Aana
Nyota Tumhe Hamane Diya
Tumhare Bagair Rajyabhishe Hai Adhoora
Agali Bar Mil Ke Ladenge

These are my lines for Indian Political Scene. This is difficult for other to understand written with local dialects and meaning.

Land struggle — a Pandora ’sbox the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) opened while in the Opposition — has landed the party in a fix, with TMC now on the ruling side.
After the state assembly passed the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011, last week, there are demands from unwilling farmers for returning their land, acquired in projects such as Burdwan health city, Siliguri satellite township and the NTPC power plant at Katwa. Kick-started by the TMC, the land agitations at these sites are taking a new turn now.
Soon after the Bill was passed in the assembly, agitators stalled work at Burdwan health city site, causing trouble for the authority. The health city is being developed in a publicprivate partnership by the Burdwan Development Authority and the Bengal Faith Health Care (BFHC), a special purpose vehicle promoted by CES Infratech and Faith Health Care, aCES group company.
“On May 14, about 300-400 people rushed to our project site and stopped work completely. Some 70-80 farmers were unwilling to give their land and, reportedly, they even rejected the cheques, but no major agitation had happened till the government ’sdecision. Now, we have been thrown out of the site. Even the outpatient unit, operational with four specialist doctors, is not being allowed to work,” said a BFHC official. The company was planning to start full operations from October this year. However, the plans seem to have been derailed by “Banerjee ’sSingur Bill”.
According to reports, about 84 farmers had turned down cheques issued in exchange for 23 acres of the land acquired in 2005 for the project in Goda. For the `1,200-crore project, 57 acres of land was acquired from more than 350 owners and BFHC has already invested `50 crore. The TMC, which went on adamage-control mode, sent Rabiranjan Chatterjee, technical education minister, to the site to speak to the unwilling farmers.
“He came up with some suggestions, including returning the land and demanding more compensation. In the wake of all this, only time can prove what will happen to the project,” the official said.
All is also not well at the proposed satellite township in the Kawakhali-Porajhar area in Siliguri, where acquisition of 320 acres of land started in 2004. The protests were spearheaded by Congress leader and member of parliament from Raniganj, along with the TMC and the Revolutionary Socialist Party.
“We have given compensation and allotted 800-odd plots to those losing their land. There were some people who were unwilling to part with their land and are protesting to have it back. The matter is with the court now,” said D K Roy, assistant town planner of Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority, which is planning the project.
Meanwhile, TMC itself was planning a Singur re-run at the Katwa power plant site, where top leaders like Saugata Ray, Purnendu Bose and Sovan Chatterjee paid a visit. The unwillingness to acquire land from those unwilling to sell seems to be a hindrance for this `9,600crore project for a 1,600-mega watt NTPC plant. The public sector undertaking had taken over the Katwa project from the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd, which had acquired 387 of the 1,035 acres required for the project last year.
According to sources, Banerjee, who heads the power ministry herself, will not allow acquiring more than 600 acres of land. “There needs to be some openeness from the government for the project to continue,” complained a top NTPC official.
On the other hand, Saugata Ray, a member of parliament who once headed the campaign through the Save Farmland Committee, said, “A lot will depend on the ground situation. People in Katwa never wanted further acquisition of land.” In Katwa, 1,033 acres of land belong to 4,600 farmers and not many were willing to give their land even for the first phase of the project. Matters have worsened after the Singur Bill.
However, for the TMC, it seems a ghost from the past has started to haunt them now.
After the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011 was passed, there have been demands from unwilling farmers for the return of their land acquired for projects across the state