LAC decision to announce award under High Court scanner

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 16

The decision of the Land Acquisition Collector (LAC) to announce the award or compensation to landowners has come under judicial scanner just about six months after the acquisition of land in Dhanas and Dadu Majra to connect Dakshin Marg to “PR-4” in Punjab was challenged.

The new bypass or PR-4 will start from the high-level bridge at Dadu Majra to the UT boundary on the Mullanpur side. The proposed road will come up on 18.13 acres to be acquired in Dadu Majra village and Dhanas.

The petitioners’ counsel, Charanpal Singh Bagri, contended that the collector had on March 13 declared in haste that the award would be announced on May 18, irreparably affecting their rights. He added the matter was to come up for hearing on April 22 and May 15, but could not be taken up.

Accepting Bagri’s request, the High Court advanced the date of hearing in July to Monday.

The acquisition of land for the purpose was challenged in November last year after a petition was filed alleging that the value of land belonging to politicians and bureaucrats there would increase by several crores.

The petitioners, Jaspal Singh and others, had earlier contended that the Dhanas-Mullanpur-Siswan road connecting Punjab to Dakshin Marg in Chandigarh was just 2 km from the proposed connecting road. The acquisition would not serve public purpose but amounted urbanisation.

Bagri contended that numerous residential and commercial projects were being set up by “famous private companies and builders” in Punjab abutting the PR-4 road. Bagri added “it would serve the ulterior motives of builders, developers and politician who have already started their development projects as such amounting to urbanisation,” he submitted.

Bagri added that the UT Administrator, just prior to acquisition of land in Dhanas and Dadu Majra, also notified “Policy for Land Acquisition through Negotiation”, which was in contravention of the mandatory procedure and provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act.

Bagri had also told the court that this was the first-of-its-kind acquisition process initiated without updating the revenue record or the record of rights of the land concerned. He added that the same had not been updated for the last so many decades.

Bagri also sought directions for considering the rate of land in question on a par with the rate of commercial and residential area, which was part and parcel of the same village. Elaborating, he submitted half area was part of Milk Colony in Dhanas and remaining part was subject matter of acquisition, where collector rate was more than Rs 19 crore per acre.