[The following is an excerpt from the operative part of the subject SC judgement (available at <http://www.indianemployees.com/index.php?module=judgments&p=details&id=2955-uddar-gagan-properties-ltd-vs-sant-singh-ors>): 26. Land is scarce natural resource. Owner of land has guarantee against being deprived of his rights except under a valid law for compelling needs of the society and not otherwise. The commercial use of land can certainly be rewarding to an individual. Initiation of acquisition for public purpose may deprive the owner of valuable land but it cannot permit another person who may be able to get permission to develop colony to take over the said land. If the law allows the State to take land for housing needs, the State itself has to keep the title or dispose of land consistent with Article 14 after completion of acquisition. If after initiation of acquisition, process is not to be completed, land must revert back to owner on the date of Section 4 notification and not to any one else directly or indirectly. This is not what has happened.]
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/547140/put-land-original-use-return.html Put land to original use or return it: SC Ashish Tripathi, May 18, 2016, New Delhi, DHNS 'Can't transfer acquired land to builder' *The Supreme Court has held that the land acquired by a state government cannot be transferred to builders as it would amount to profiteering at the cost of farmers.* If the acquired land cannot be used for the stated purpose, it must be returned to its original land owners, it added. Holding that land is a scarce natural resource, a bench of Justices Anil R Dave and Adarsh Kumar Goel said there could be no objection to acquisition of land for a compelling public purpose or for regulated development of colonies. “But entertaining an application for releasing land in favour of the builder who comes into the picture after acquisition notification and release of land to such a builder is tantamount to acquisition for a private purpose. It amounts to transfer of resources of poor for the benefit of the rich. It amounts to permitting profiteering at the cost of the livelihood and existence of a farmer,” the bench said. “This is against the philosophy of the Constitution and in violation of guaranteed fundamental rights of equality and right to property and to life. What cannot be done directly cannot be done indirectly also,” the bench added. The court also said if after initiation of acquisition, the process is not completed, land must revert to the owner and not to others, directly or indirectly. The court was dealing with acquisition of over 800 acres of land between 2003 and 2005 in Rohtak by the Haryana government for residential and commercial properties by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA). However, the state government subsequently released a major chunk of land to real estate developer Uddar Gagan Properties Ltd to develop a colony. “When the land sought to be acquired for a public purpose is allowed to be transferred to private persons, any administrative action or private transaction could be held to be vitiated by fraud. There is no legal sanction for such action,” the apex court said. The court modified the Punjab and Haryana HC’s order, which quashed the entirety of the acquisition. It directed HUDA to take possession of all land and quashed the release order granted in favour of the builder, who was allowed to claim reimbursement. What the court said Transferring land acquired for housing to builder amounts to profiteering It is tantamount to transfer of resources of poor for benefit of the rich Violation of fundamental rights of equality and right to property No objection to acquisition of land for a compelling public purpose -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
