Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court, Wednesday, postponed its verdict on the legality of land acquisition in two villages of the Greater Noida area popularly known as Noida Extension.
The High Court will announce its verdict on July 26 on the plea of farmers and villagers from Roja Yaqubpur and Bisarakh Jalalpur villages, who went to court against the Noida Authority’s decision to acquire their land.
The court had already cancelled land acquisition in some other villages of Greater Noida in earlier judgements. And tomorrow the HC will hear pleas of farmers from Itheda, Haidarpur and four other villages.
On Tuesday, the High Court had quashed acquisition of nearly 600 hectare of land in Patwari and Dewla villages, falling under Dadri tehsil of Gautambuddh Nagar district.
The verdicts have come as a big jolt to builders and prospective home owners. Several builders have launched their housing projects in affected villages and thousands of people have made bookings in the upcoming dwelling units, some of which are either in various phases of construction or in the drawing board stage.
In total, pleas challenging the acquisition of almost 2,000 acres of land in Greater Noida and surrounding areas, popularly called Noida Extension, have been filed in the HC. It is believed that around 2.5 lakh flats are to be built on the land in question.
Yesterday’s order came barely a fortnight after the Supreme Court had struck down acquisition of 156 hectare of land by the state government in village Shahberi in the area, saying the authorities were “subserving” private builders in the name of public interest.
The apex court had on July 6 upheld the Allahabad HC order which had quashed the land acquisition by the Greater Noida authority under the urgency clause of the Land Acquisition Act and directed that the property be returned to the farmers.
It had also said the builders should return back the money collected towards the sale of flats in the village.
The issues being dealt by the HC include acquisition of farming and other land by the state government without giving farmers and villagers an opportunity to raise their objections and without being offered adequate compensation.
First Published: Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 12:55