A ruling says that courts must examine the legality of acquisition very carefully when “little Indians lose their small property in the name of mindless acquisition” at the instance of the state.
In a ruling that questions the state’s sovereign right to acquire land for ‘public purpose’, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that any attempt by the state to acquire land for a ‘public purpose’ under the colonial era Land Acquisition Act, that is then handed over to benefit a particular group of people or to serve a particular interest at the cost of the interest of a large section of people, especially the aam aadmi, “defeats the very concept of public purpose”.
In such circumstances, courts can and must quash the acquisition order, a bench of justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly said while scrapping the Uttar Pradesh government’s acquisition of fertile land belonging to a group of farmers for the construction of district jails at Shahjahanpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur and Moradabad. The acquisition had been ordered by the then UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The ruling says that courts must examine the legality of acquisition very carefully when “little Indians lose their small property in the name of mindless acquisition” at the instance of the state.
The ruling assumes significance in view of the fact that the State often uses the Land Acquisition Act to acquire land for ‘public purpose’ that is later handed over to influential individuals or companies for their private benefit. This has especially been seen with regard to Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
The application of the concept of ‘public purpose’ “must be consistent with the constitutional ethos” and especially with Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles in the Indian Constitution, the court said.
Recently, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had met Prime Minister Singh to draw his attention to the misuse of the land acquisition law by Mulayam Singh Yadav’s successor, Mayawati, and sought suitable amendment in the law.
The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2007, that seeks to bring changes in the controversial Land Acquisition Act, is being withheld because of strong opposition by railways minister Mamata Banerjee, who heads the Trinamool Congress, a key UPA ally.
The bill redefines “public purpose” as land acquired for defence purposes, infrastructure projects or for any project useful to the general public. As per the bill, a social impact assessment study must be conducted for any acquisition that may result in large-scale displacement.
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