Yamuna Expressway: Mayawati gets Supreme Court thumbs-up

In a major boost to the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh (UP), the Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the use of emergency clauses to acquire agricultural land for the Yamuna Expressway project.

Supreme Court dismissed on Wednesday an appeal made by a farmers’ body on land acquisition by private companies. The appeal by 35 farmers was earlier dismissed by the Allahabad high court.

The farmers contended that since the project would be executed by a private agency, the acquisition of land should also be done by the company which was implementing the project. But the court found merit in state’s argument that the project was for the convenience of common people.