Prayagraj, 23 April: The Allahabad High Court has expressed displeasure over the failure of timely disposal of applications filed by farmers of different districts demanding increased compensation in the case of land acquisition.
The High Court has sought an affidavit from the Revenue Secretary before May 10. The court has said that if his affidavit is not found satisfactory, then contempt proceedings will be initiated against him.
A division bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Piyush Agarwal are hearing the petition filed by Rajveer Singh of Bulandshahr and other farmers.
In the petition, these farmers say that in order to get enhanced compensation for their land acquired by the same notification decades ago, they had applied for Section 28A before the Special Land Acquisition Officer, but till date it has not been disposed of.
On behalf of the state government, Additional Chief Standing Advocate Ramanand Pandey told the court that the application of 28A can be filed only if the land of farmers is affected by the same notification. There is a difference between the date of their notification in the case of the petitioners and the date of notification written in the application of section 28A.
The court said that the officer should file and dispose of the applications on the basis of merit and not be kept hanging.
The High Court said that on November 1, 2021, the same court had directed the Secretary Revenue to dispose of the applications of every district filed under Section 28A in the districts of the entire state within four months. It was also said in that order that the Revenue Secretary would be responsible for not doing so.
The High Court said that it has been more than 4 months since the order was passed, yet petitions are coming in the court alleging that the applications filed under Section 28A of the farmers have not been disposed of. The court has fixed May 10 as the date in this matter and has sought his affidavit from the secretary revenue.
Under Section 28A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, a farmer makes an application when a number of lands have been acquired by a single notification and the court has directed to increase the compensation for other lands related to that notification.
After this order of the court, a provision has been made for other farmers to apply to the Special Land Acquisition Officer under Section 28A of the Land Acquisition Act to get enhanced compensation for their role.
