SC refused to allow construction of apartments in Noida Extension
The Supreme Court on Monday turned down the plea of the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority and builders, including Supertech and Amrapalli, to stay the May 12 Allahabad high court order that quashed the authority’s notification, acquiring 156.3 hectares land in the village. The authority bought the land from farmers at a cheap price for industrial projects, but later “swapped” and “transferred” it to builders for residential projects.
Justice P Sathasivam of the Supreme Court said while fixing July 5 to hear appeals that the apex court would step in to stop “more Nandigrams”, which witnessed large-scale protests and violence in West Bengal against the erstwhile CPI (M) government’s land acquisition policy. The bench also questioned the urgency clause invoked to acquire the land, denying the land-owners the right to file their objections.
The investments of over 30,000 home-buyers in Noida Extension has been put to risk, as the Supreme Court refused to allow construction of apartments in Shahberi in Noida Extension.
The bench questioned the urgency clause invoked to acquire the land, denying the land-owners the right to file their objections. “Whose residential use are these flats for? Who is building them? What are the prices? We want to go into the details of the case. This urgency clause is not automatically invoked,” the court observed.
The court also warned the state to stop the practice of “taking land from one side and giving it to the other. If this does not stop, the court would step in”.
The authority is, however, yet to appeal against the high court’s two other orders setting aside the acquisition of 72 hectares in Surajpur and 170 hectares in Gulistanpur villages.
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