Heirs seek payment for land after 85 years

Eighty-five years after the government acquired 1,232 acres of land near Pune, the legal heirs of the land owners have come to the court seeking compensation.

The Bombay high court on Wednesday restrained Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL), now acquired by the Tata Group, from developing the said land in the Dighi, Bhosari, Kalas and Bhopkal villages.

The petitioner, Santosh Walke, and some others, claim that their ancestors owned the land prior to the government’s acquisition in 1925.

According to their petition, the government had acquired the land for the Indian Radio Telegraph Company, which later became VSNL. It was then given to the original land owners for cultivation in 1948.

However, the government seized it in 1992, the petitioners say. Their advocate, Prafulla Shah, argued that either the land should be returned to the petitioners, or they should be compensated, as required under law.

Justices JN Patel and BR Gavai admitted the petition but made it clear that the “nature of the land” should not be changed or altered until the court takes a decision regarding the compensation claimed by the petitioners.