Return 24,000 acres to farmers: Supreme Court

Bringing to an end a 50-year-old legal dispute, the Supreme Court has come in the aid of at least 12,000 farmers who lost 24,000 acres of their land in Kopargaon, Srirampur, Rahata, Shirdi, Nashik and Solapur.

A bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Deepak Verma on Tuesday dismissed the appeals filed by the workers' union of various factories that had been set up on the land and 30,000 acre of additional land.

Counsel for land owners Shivaji M Jadhav said the ruling brings to end the trauma that the farmers had been undergoing.

The unions had said that if the land acquired was returned to the owners, the employment of at least 700 workers and around 7,000 season labour force would be in jeopardy.

Disagreeing with this and allaying their apprehensions, the apex court said the state has an additional 50,000 acres on which more factories could be set up. Thus, they wouldn't be out of job.

The present dispute cropped up after the enactment of Maharashtra Land Ceiling Act in 1961. Various land owners had leased out their agricultural lands to 13 sugar factories on a long-term basis.

Many industrial undertakings were in possession of huge area of lands, some of which were owned by them.

All the sugar factories together owned about 35,000 acres whereas they were in possession of about 50,000 acres taken on lease from about 7,000 land owners under the Ceiling Act.

The state directed an inquiry into the holding of industrial undertakings or sugar factories and the extent of surplus lands held by them. It was found that a surplus land were in their possession.

The state took over about 85,000 acres of surplus land and set up the state farming corporation to utilise the land.

Later, the state amended the law for handing over the lands to owner and said the owners of land would be returned 1.82 hectares of land.

It resulted in litigation. The Bombay high court (Ahmednagar) dismissed the law suit file by employees unions and factory owners.