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Dealing with a case where petitioners' lands had been acquired by State authorities but they had received no compensation, the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday observed, "The state is not expected to take people's land and not pay the compensation."

The division bench comprising Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Piyush Agrawal directed the Additional Chief Secretaries of the Revenue Department, Public Works Department, and the Irrigation Department to prepare a list of cases of similar nature along with the issues raised therein which are pending before the High Court and asked the officials to apprise the Court as to what steps have been taken to resolve the grievance of the concerned petitioners.

One Jeet Narayan Yadav and two others had come knocking the court's door raising their grievance against the alleged unjust act by the State departments.

During the hearing, the Court noted that a number of cases had been listed before the Court regularly where either the land was acquired and possession thereof was taken but no compensation had been paid or the cases where the possession was taken without acquisition of land and without payment of compensation.

The Court said that it had come to notice that in all those matters mainly land had been acquired by either the Revenue Department, Public Works Department and the Irrigation Department.

Therefore, the Court asked for the personal affidavits of aforesaid Additional Chief Secretaries, responding to the directions by the next date of hearing of the matter i.e. December 03, 2021.

In another related matter revolving around the similar issue, it was prayed by the Petitioner that as per the Court's earlier directions in Dayaram and others vs State of Uttar Pradesh and others (2019) which were in accordance with the Government Order of May 12, 2016, he had sent a representation before the District Magistrate of his district on February 25, 2020, raising grievances against the acquisition of his land sans compensation, but to no avail. 

Dealing with this matter, the same bench said, 

"Once the procedure has been provided in the Government Order dated May 12, 2016 itself for redressal of the grievances being raised by the land owners whose land have been taken by any authority of the State Government without carrying out any acquisition process, then why are the officers concerned not taking steps on the application so filed? As in the case in hand, the same has not been decided for the last more than one year and eight months."

Therefore, the Court directed all the District Magistrates in the state of Uttar Pradesh to dispose of any such application pending before them till February 18, 2022.

The Court also asked these District Magistrates to file their affidavits in the Court, giving particulars of the applications received and decided before the said date. The Court added that in case, any such application would not be able to be decided, the reasons there-for should be mentioned in the affidavit. 

This matter is listed to be next heard on February 25, 2022.

Cause Title: Jeet Narayan Yadav and 2 others v. State of UP and Ors. & Ram Kailash Nishad and others vs Ram Kailash Nishad and others