Major setback for private developers in Noida and Greater Noida areas after SC upholds Allahabad High Court order

In what could be termed as a big relief for farmers based in the Noida and Greater Noida regions, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the Allahabad High Court’s order that asked the government authorities to pay 64.7 per cent additional compensation to all those whose land was acquired. The SC ruling on the matter can be seen as a massive setback for private developers in the region. In an earlier verdict, the Allahabad High Court had cancelled the acquisition of land in three villages and instructed the government authorities to pay higher compensations in addition to 10 per cent of developed land in 60 other villages that fall within the vicinity of the farmers. The HC order was challenges in the apex court by both Noida and Greater Noida authorities. More than 1000 petitions filed but the authorities were rejected by a bench led by Chief Justice HL Dattu while hearing the case. The Noida and Greater Noida authorities had demanded in their petition that the developed land to be awarded to the farmers should be lowered to 5 per cent in Noida and 6 per cent in Greater Noida. In October 2011, the High Court adjudicated a case that saw farmers alleging that their land had been acquired forcibly by the Uttar Pradesh government using the “urgency clause”. However, instead of granting the acquired land to industries, the government gave away the land to private builders without even paying any fair compensation to the farmers. Farmers numbering as many as 491 from 61 different villages in the Gautam Budh Nagar district approached the judiciary challenging the acquisition of over 3,000 hectares of land by government agencies.