Verdict on Subhash Ghai`s Haryana land deal March 16

Gurgaon: The fate of 20 acres of land purchased by Bollywood filmmaker Subhash Ghai in Haryana will now be decided by a court March 16. The verdict on a plea against the deal was earlier slated to be delivered Monday, a lawyer said.

"On March 1, after hearing the arguments of both the sides, the court had decided to pronounce the decision on March 5 but now it may come on March 16," Sanjay Sharma, lawyer for Ghai`s Mukta Arts, said. Additional Civil Judge (Senior) Rajesh Sharma, based in Bahadurgarh, earlier issued notice to the government and Ghai and restricted Mukta Arts from performing any activity on the land in Badhsa village in Jhajjar district, some 35 km from here. The gram panchayat had sent a resolution to the government Jan 6, 2010 to permit it sell land to Mukta Arts. On Sep 22, 2010, the government allowed the panchayat to sell 20 acres of land at the rate of Rs.2, 409, 000 per acre. The deal was sealed Oct 11, 2010. Ex-sarpanch of Badhsa Balbir Singh and former member of panchayat Rambir Singh filed the petition claiming that the land belonged to village communities and the gram panchayat and the government had no right to sell it to a private firm. IANS