Land Acquisition - the truth.

SC notice to Centre, state
R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, August 7
The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Haryana and central governments on a PIL filed by the Bhartiya Kisan Union, Haryana and 17 others from Sonepat challenging the acquisition of their agriculture land in the “guise of public purpose” only to hand it over to private builders, developers and industrialists.

A bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justice SB Sinha, who retired today, also tagged the PIL with other similar petitions from various states.

According to the petition, filed through advocate Ranbir Yadav, the strategy under which the state was allying with corporations to dispossess people of their livelihood “is nothing but development terrorism irrespective of any political label of parties in office.”

The petitioners contended the Haryana government had violated various provisions of law while taking away their land. They were not even served notice under section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act, they added.

On November 17, 2005 the entire land of eight villages - Sewali, Patla, Budkhals, Ajawarpur, Ferozpur, Khadar, Jakhauli and Khewela - in Sonepat district was acquired through a notification by the state government.

“A massive land grab by large corporations is going on in various guises, aided and abetted by the land acquisition policies of both the central and state governments,” the PIL said.

It is unfortunate that the government acquires land ostensibly for public purpose and then distributes the land to its cronies to develop it as promoters in making housing complexes and make killing profits.
This is the very reason why Mamata Banerjee has raised objections to the new land acquisition act.
If any land is acquired for making bridges, hosptals or other building for public use then it can be called public purpose. But if the land is handed over to private parties to develop buildings for profit, it cannot be called public purpose and the public is perfectly justified in agitating against the government move.
Our government is nowadays acting more and more like the British who used to acquire land just with the stroke of a pen and used to dismiss our kings and acquire all their properies.
This government just acquires property from the poor and hands it over to the rich.
They are sowing the seeds of more and more people joining the Maoist movement.