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SC clears HUDA’s Pinjore-Kalka project
Tribune News Service

Collector’s powers

The Bench rejected the petitioners’ contention that the Haryana Government had not vested the LAO appointed for acquiring over 800 acres with the powers of the Collector as required under law and as such the entire acquisition process was vitiated.

Apex court passed the order after Additional Advocate General produced a copy of the order delegating the Collector’s powers to the LAO.

New Delhi, December 12
The Supreme Court today cleared the Pinjore-Kalka Urban Complex project of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) covering residential, commercial and industrial areas at Panchkula on both sides of the National Highway 22.

A Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya dismissed a petition filed by Ravindera Singh and others who had challenged the acquisition of their land for the project.

The Bench rejected the petitioners’ contention that the Haryana government had not vested the Land Acquisition Officer (LAO) appointed for the acquiring over 800 acres with the powers of the Collector as required under law (Section 3-c of the Land Acquisition Act 1894) and as such the entire acquisition process was vitiated.

The apex court passed the order after Additional Advocate General Narender Hooda produced a copy of the Governor’s order delegating the Collector’s powers to the LAO for the purpose.

With the dismissal of the landowners’ petition, all interim orders passed by the SC earlier stood vacated, the Bench clarified. On April 19 this year, the Bench had stayed all the construction work at the complex. Under the HUDA project, as many as 31 new sectors were to be developed on 400-odd acres of land.

Earlier, the SC had also asked the officer concerned to explain as to why the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act were not complied with for the purpose of acquiring land for the benefit of private companies.

In another order passed on April 28, 2012, the SC had observed that it was “prima facie of the view that the entire (land) acquisition proceeding deserves to be quashed.”

The Bench made castigating remarks while stopping “all the ongoing construction activities” relating to the project.

The state government had issued the 2007 notification for acquiring 809.74 acres of land. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had dismissed the landowners’ petition on April 6, 2010, prompting them to approach the SC.