Hearing on plea against land acquisition today

A hearing on a writ petition challenging the state government’s land pooling policy will be held in the Punjab and Haryana High Court tomorrow.

The petition has been filed by advocate Gurdeep Singh Phagla, who is also a landlord, with a significant portion of his land in Phagla village falling under the contentious policy.

AAP putting pressure on builders, alleges Bittu

In a video byte, the Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries, Ravneet Singh Bittu blamedthe AAP government for now putting pressure on the builders to hand over their lands, else be ready to face music. “The farmers have rejected AAP’s land pooling policy, but now the police are putting pressure on builders to hand over the land, which is unacceptable and we will continue to fight against this unethical policy,” said Bittu.

Talking to The Tribune, Phagla said, “I have filed the writ on behalf of the farmers and landlords challenging the AAP government’s land pooling policy, which is completely unjustified and in violation of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013.” He added that the Act, enacted by the Central Government, has specific provisions under which land can be acquired — for instance, for the NHAI projects or Army requirements — only with due compensation. “A state government cannot alter or amend the Central Act as per its whims. But here, rules have been twisted to suit an arbitrary policy,” he alleged.

The petition was filed in the first week of July and admitted by the High Court.

Darshan Singh, a landlord from Birmi, also opposed the policy, saying the government did not even conduct proper environmental assessments before announcing it. “The policy was introduced in a dictatorial manner. There was no consultation, no assessment of impact on flora and fauna, nothing. We object to this approach outright,” he said. Sukhminder Singh, a farmer from Bassaimi near Ludhiana, questioned the government record in land development.