LUCKNOW: The Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow bench has temporarily halted the land acquisition proceedings for various projects initiated by the Uttar Pradesh Awas Evam Vikas Parishad (UPAEVP) in Ayodhya.
The court has instructed all involved parties, including the state government and district authorities, to maintain the current conditions at the disputed sites.
The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
A division bench, including Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla, issued the order in response to a batch of 11 writ petitions.
During the hearing, the petitioners completed their arguments, but representatives from the housing and urban development department, the Ayodhya district magistrate, and UPAEVP stated they were unprepared to present their counterarguments.
The court noted that the case has been pending for an extended period, and further delays would be inappropriate. It ordered that if the state or housing authority cannot present arguments at the next session, they may submit written statements instead.
The petitions argue that the land acquisition is being conducted under the Uttar Pradesh Awas Evam Vikas Parishad Act of 1965, which lacks the protections provided by the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The latter offers significantly higher compensation and additional protections like rehabilitation, resettlement, and social impact assessments.
The petitioners assert that proceeding under the 1965 Act would deny landowners and farmers these superior benefits and result in undervalued acquisitions.
Following the arguments, the court noted that the acquisition under the 1965 Act seems less advantageous compared to the 2013 legislation.
Consequently, the bench has decided to freeze the acquisition process initiated by notifications from 2020 onwards.
