New Delhi, March 19
The PSEB today gave a commitment to the Supreme Court that it would pay 50 per cent of the enhanced compensation for the land acquired from farmers to set up power projects in the state while challenging the high court verdict increasing it beyond the farmers’ demand.
After an assurance was given by Punjab’s standing counsel Rupinder Singh Suri to a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice K. G Balakrishnan, it stayed the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgement enhancing the award to Rs 5.30 lakh.
Suri, arguing on a fresh appeal by the PSEB against the May 19, 2006 high court order applying the same standard of enhanced compensation for the farmers of Malikpur village, told the court that a bunch of petitions had been filed by the PSEB earlier also against the high court’s April 26, 2006 order.
Since all petitions needed to be decided in a common judgement, the high court verdict should be stayed till the final verdict and in the meantime the PSEB had decided to pay half of the enhanced amount as interim measure, he said.
The Land Acquisition Collector had fixed the compensation at Rs 2.05 lakh for the chahi land, Rs 1.16 lakh for barani land and Rs 30,000 for gair mumkin land way back in 1992 and the District Judge, Roopnagar had ordered to pay the farmers at the rate of Rs 3.40 lakh per acre in 1994, which the high court enhanced to Rs 5.30 lakh after a protracted legal battle by farmers.
The PSEB had challenged the high court order.
