Lavasa illegally took land: Farmers to Bombay high court

Two agriculturalist, Bandya Walekar and Babu Walekar, have moved the Bombay high court alleging that their land rights have been illegally transferred and later taken over by the Lavasa Corporation Limited to build the hill station.

The petitioners have challenged the state government circular appointing Lavasa Corporation as the special planning authority.

Division bench of Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice RV More heard the petition on Thursday. The bench has directed the state government to file a reply by July 13.

According to the petition, the two have five hectares of land in Maul taluka. Earlier they were threatened to hand over their land to Lavasa corporation, but they did not comply.

Later when the went to complain about the threats to the sub-divisional commissioner, they came to know that their land had been transferred to a third party and was later sold to the Lavasa Corporation.

According to the petition, the state government notification of June 12, 2008, appointing Lavasa Corporation as the special planning authority was illegal. And now due to the loss of their land they have lost their livelihood. The petition prays that the state government’s decision is bad and it should be set aside.