State Not Expected To Take Land Of People & Not Pay Compensation- Allahabad HC Seeks State Chief Secretaries' Affidavits

Stressing that the state is not expected to take the land of the people and not pay the compensation, the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday sought the personal affidavits of Additional Chief Secretaries of the Uttar Pradesh state regarding the grievance of people who seek compensation for their land acquired by the state government.

The Bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Piyush Agrawal was hearing the plea 3 petitioners submitting that their land had been taken, however, no compensation had been paid to them.

During the curse of the hearing, the Court observed that it regularly hears such matters where either the land is acquired and possession thereof has been taken but no compensation has been paid or the cases where the possession has been taken without acquisition of land and without payment of compensation.

It was pointed out before the Court that in such cases, mainly the land is acquired by either the Revenue Department, Public Works Department, and the Irrigation Department.

In view of this, the Court issued the following direction:

"The Additional Chief Secretaries of the Revenue Department, Public Works Department, and the Irrigation Department shall get the list of such cases pending in this Court prepared along with the issues raised therein."

They have also been asked to apprise the Court as to what steps have been taken to resolve the grievance of the petitioners as the State is not expected to take the land of the people and not pay the compensation.

Lastly, the Court has been directed to file personal affidavits of the Additional Chief Secretaries in the instant petition by the next date of hearing, i.e., December 3, 2021.

In another case (Ram Kailash Nishad and others v. State of U.P. and others), the Allahabad High Court ordered all the district magistrates of the state to dispose of the pending applications by February 18, 2022, seeking compensation/raising objection in respect of farmers' land taken in possession without following the acquisition process.

The High Court has also directed all the District Magistrates to specify the details of such applications filed seeking compensation/raising objection and as to what actions have been taken in such applications. This petition will be next heard on February 25, 2022.

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