Though Greater Noida Authority claims to have reached an 'out-of-court settlement' with Patwari villagers, over a dozen writ petitions have been filed in Allahabad High Court rejecting the same 'pact'. Farmers have rejected the deal and have appealed to the court that they be given their land back. "I have filed writ petitions on behalf of around 20 villagers from Patwari who have rejected the settlement and have claimed their land...

-The Economic Times   The Union cabinet is likely to clear the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011 next week and it is likely to be tabled in Parliament in the ongoing monsoon session itself. Minister of rural development Jairam Ramesh met with nine cabinet ministers on Thursday to finalise the contents of the draft bill. These include finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, home minister P Chidambaram, minister for tribal affairs Kishore Chand...

-Express News Service   A three-judge bench of the Allahabad High Court, especially constituted to hear land acquisition cases pertaining to Noida and Greater Noida, on Monday said it will hear the matter on a day-to-day basis from September 12, the next date of hearing. The court has asked the state government to file its counter-affidavit with respect to the petitions in the meantime. The court also said that cases pertaining to acquisition...

Land is the most important ingredient for the development of real estate and infrastructure. For quite some time now, land acquisition had become a contentious issue in the country, which has threatened not only the industrial development but also planned growth of cities in the country. In this backdrop, the central government's decision to introduce a land acquisition bill in the monsoon session of Parliament will go a long way...

• Without a clear definition of ‘public purpose’, the land acquisition bill is meaningless • The bill’s definition of ‘fertile land’ can potentially harm the agriculture sector • Government’s role in defining land will create economic and political problems in future As Parliament debates this month it will, hopefully, move beyond issues of corruption in high places to important economic legislation. Two such pieces of legislation are the land acquisition bill and...