In another setback to the UP government on acqui-ring farmers’ fertile land for the development projects, the Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed its order for taking over nearly 300 acres of land for “leather city project” in Ghaziabad district.
The apex court found that the notification of December 18, 2006, was extended beyond the time limit envisaged in the Land Acquisition Act’s provisions, as the project had not taken off within the stipulated period.
If the project had to take a long time, the government was not justified to invoke the urgency clause of the Act, a bench ruled. “The notification under Section 6 of the LA Act is beyond the period of limitation as envisaged by proviso to Section 6(1). We also hold that the state government was not justified, in the facts and circumstances of the case, to invoke the urgency clause of section 17(4) of the act,” the bench in its judgement held.