SC Comes To Rescue Of Farmers Who Lost Their Lands To Private Builders Under Sham Land Acquisition Proceedings [Read Judgment]

“There was an unholy nexus between the governmental machinery and the builders/private entities in devising a modality to deprive the innocent and gullible landholders of their holdings and jeopardize public interest which the acquisition was intended to achieve,” the court held.The Supreme Court dealt with a whopping land acquisition scam involving 688 acres of prime land in National Capital Region in Haryana in the case Rameshwar and Others v State of Haryana and Others. The case revealed a devious modus operandi employed by private builders to take hold of lands using the medium of Land Acquisition Act.The Haryana Government had issued a notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act for acquiring 688 acres of land belonging to farmers for establishing an industrial township. Soon after the notification, various private builders approached the landholders and purchased the lands on the execution of sale deeds. Several landholders, faced with the threat of compulsory acquisition and paltry compensation awarded by the State, sold away the lands at Rs.20-25 lakhs per acre. It was later revealed that it was a throwaway price, as some other landholders who waited till the stage of award notification, obtained land value of Rs.80 lakhs per acre (which subsequently rose to Rs.4.5 crores per acre). Two days before the date notified for pronouncement of award, the state government declared on 24.08.2007 its decision to drop the land acquisition proceedings. Thereafter, the private builders who obtained the lands from the farmers approached the government for grant of licenses to develop the property as housing colonies, and such licenses were promptly granted.Having come to know that the lands under acquisition were now being utilized for private gain by various builders, the farmers started agitation against the process adopted by the government machinery. They also approached the Punjab & Haryana High Court alleging that the entire action of initiating the acquisition and thereby compelling writ landholders to sell off their valuable and fertile land at throwaway prices under the threat of acquisition to certain private builders and then dropping the acquisition just two days before the date fixed for declaration of award was deliberate and was fraught with malice.The high court dismissed the writ petitions holding that the prayer for setting aside the sale deeds executed in favour of private builders was not a public law remedy. Challenging the dismissal, they approached the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, FIR was registered regarding allegations of fraud and corruption in the land acquisition process, and the investigation was taken over by the CBI.Land acquisition a smoke screen for taking away propertyThe Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice UU Lalit found the builders/private entities were well aware that the acquisition would not go through but the landholders were confronted with the smoke screen of acquisition, and were cornered and persuaded in entering into transactions with the builders/private entities. From the records, the bench noted a disturbing pattern in the land deals, and had no difficulty in concluding that the farmers were deprived of the actual land value. It was observed as follows in that regard:-The lands which were purchased for a price ranging from Rs.25 lakhs per acre soon after the initiation of acquisition which price rose to Rs.80 lakhs per acre just before dropping of the acquisition, were finally purchased by DLF Home Developers Ltd. at the rate of Rs.4½ crores per acre. Further, the fact that settlement money at the rate of Rs.3½ crores per acre was made over to entities which apparently had done nothing in the matter is quite shocking. Neither had these entities procured the lands from the original landholders nor were they ultimate developers who wanted to develop the property. Such entities can certainly be termed as “middle men” who walked away with tremendous amount of money or benefit at the rate of Rs.3½ crores per acre........ this price or the rate shows the tremendous difference between the return received by the original landholders and the actual potential of the land.The court also noted that no license for development could have been issued under the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975 in an area notified for acquisition. Yet the concerned authorities not only entertained such applications for licence but pendency of such applications was taken as a factor for withdrawal from acquisition. Something which ought to have been rejected and discarded outright became the foundation for decision in favour of builders/private entities, said the court.Dropping of land acquisition a ‘fraud on power’A positive finding was entered that that the dropping of land acquisition process was done maliciously, amounting to ‘fraud on power’.The transactions so entered into between the landholders and the concerned...

SC Comes To Rescue Of Farmers Who Lost Their Lands To Private Builders Under Sham Land Acquisition Proceedings [Read Judgment]

Manu Sebastian

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