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Dump archaic Land Acquisition Act: SC by Dhananjay Mahapatra

The Supreme Court on Monday told the government to dump the archaic Land Acquisition Act to prevent Nandigram-like violent protests in every state, sounding the warning that it would step in to safeguard public interest if the authorities failed to do the needful.

"The perspective has to change. The public purpose clause in the 1894 Act must go. If the government does not do it, then this court has to act. It is development of few at the cost of many," said a vacation bench of Justices P Sathasivam and A K Patnaik.

The court's reference to Nandigram-type eruptions came during the hearing on a case concerning the acquisition of land by the UP government for builders, and was a setback to the Mayawati government's efforts to put the violent anti-land acquisition protests at Bhatta Parsaul behind it.

The court's reference to Nandigram, where West Bengal's Left Front government allegedly used excessive force to suppress agitating farmers protesting against land acquisition, was to bring focus on the criticism of the indiscriminate use of the 'public purpose' clause in the Act by the states to acquire land for development.

These observations came during the hearing on appeals filed by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, UP government and builders Supertech and Amrapali, which had challenged a recent Allahabad High Court decision quashing acquisition of agricultural land by the state. The Authority had allotted the land to builders to construct multi-storeyed residential complexes.

Senior advocate Satish Chandra Misra assured the court that the UP government had become the first state to lay down an alternative to the public purpose clause and promise rehabilitation of owners whose land was acquired.

But the bench wanted a detailed hearing on the issue on July 5. It asked the Mayawati government whether it had surveyed availability of barren land before acquiring agricultural land in Greater Noida.

The farmers' plight after land acquisition and resultant anger spilling on to the streets did not escape the court's attention. It asked senior advocate Altaf Ahmed, who appeared for the Authority, whether the government made any effort to find alternative land before acquiring agricultural land.

"We cannot close our eyes to what is happening in our country," the bench said. To pre-empt the court from dwelling on incidents of violence relating to land acquisition, Ahmed said the land acquisition in Greater Noida was not comparable to Nandigram.

But, the bench said, "We do not want Nandigram in every state. Did you give an opportunity to the farmers to raise their grievances before acquiring their land? What are you offering them in return? Are you going to give them a flat each in the multi-storeyed residential complex?"

The court said it would not deviate from the statutory principles. But at the same time, it expressed concern over the manner in which agricultural land was being acquired without surveying availability of barren land. "Why should we reduce our agricultural land for housing purposes," it asked.

The court's concern appears to have also emanated from the violent incidents at Bhatta-Parsaul in Greater Noida, where farmers protested against the state acquiring their land at very low rates and then giving it to developers who made a killing by constructing residential buildings on both sides of Taj Expressway.