High Court favors farmers in Naya Raipur land acquisition case

Raipur | Correspondent: The Chhattisgarh High Court announced a verdict in favor of farmers involved in a case of land acquisition of Nava Raipur.

The bench has upheld a ruling by the Single Judge regarding land acquisition under the 2013 Act.

The court noted that, as per Section 25 of the Act, if a land acquisition award is not made within 12 months, the entire process is considered void.

However, the government retains the right to start a new land acquisition process if needed for public purposes.

A bench of justice Ramesh Sinha and Ravindra kumar Agrawal, dismissed the appeal, affirming that the State can initiate fresh land acquisition proceedings under the 2013 law if further land is required.

Over 127 farmers from Reiko village had raised concerns regarding the land acquisition process for the development of Naya Raipur, citing non-compliance with the Land Acquisition Act.

A notification for acquiring 128.39 acres of land was issued on 21 March 2013, initiating the process for the land including many farmers.

However, the situation changed when the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Act 2013 came into effect on 1 January 2014.

In 2016, the farmers filed a petition in the High Court seeking to cancel the land acquisition process, arguing that the compensation was calculated based on the outdated Act.

The farmers highlighted that under the new Act, compensation should be provided within 12 months, and even under the old Act, compensation should have been given before 3 January 2015 if the process was completed but this could not be done in their case.