Court criticises Gujarat’s land acquisition, allotment policy

GANDHINAGAR - The Gujarat High Court has criticised the state government for having different yardsticks for acquiring land from citizens and allotting it to them.

A division bench of the court comprising Justices Jayant Patel and Justice Abhilasha Kumari came down heavily on the state for not meeting the requirements of the Land Acquisition Act.

The division bench, in an order made available Wednesday, said that if the government allots the land on market price, then it has to acquire the land from the citizens or organizations upon payment of market price.

“You cannot have a dual stand on the same subject,” it noted.

“We cannot countenance the stand on the part of additional government pleader that if the government is to allot the land to any citizen or a body, higher price shall be fixed as the market price, whereas if the government is to acquire the land belonging to any citizen or any organization, it shall pay lesser price of the land,” the court said.

The court noted that the government cannot contend that it shall not pay the market price, since as per the act it is obligatory on the part of the government or the acquiring body to pay the market price as per the provisions of the Act.

The court was hearing a group of petitions filed by villagers whose land was acquired by the government for the state government’s Sujalam Sufalam spreading canal project.