In yet another setback to the Mayawati government, the Allahabad High Court today quashed acquisition of nearly 600 hectares of land in two villages in Greater Noida, giving a big jolt to builders and prospective home owners.

Giving relief to the farmers while dealing with a batch of petitions, a division bench comprising Justice Sunil Ambawani and Justice S.S. Tiwari ordered that acquisition of 589.13 hectares of land in Patwari and Dewla villages, falling under Dadri tehsil of Gautambuddh Nagar district, by the Greater Noida Authority be cancelled.

The order, which follows the one in the neighbouring Shahberi village, could affect several housing projects in the area.

Several builders have launched their housing projects in Patwari village and hundreds of people have made bookings in the upcoming dwelling units, some of which are either in various phases of construction or in the drawing board stage.

In 2008, the Greater Noida Authority acquired nearly 589 hectares in the Patwari village and sold it to builders for constructing residential units.

The High Court was of the view that since the land was acquired for residential purposes, there was “no urgency involved” and hence “acquisition should not have taken place without giving the affected parties an opportunity for hearing, which would have facilitated payment of adequate compensation.”

The order came barely a fortnight after the Supreme Court had struck down acquisition of 156 hectares of land by the State government in village Shahberi in the area, saying the authorities were “subserving” private builders in the name of public interest.

The apex court had on July 6 upheld the Allahabad High Court order which had quashed the land acquisition by the Greater Noida Authority under the urgency clause of the Land Acquisition Act and directed that the property be returned to the farmers.

It had also said that the builders should return back the money collected towards the sale of flats in the village.

The Authority and builders had moved the apex court challenging the High Court decision.

Today's order was passed on petitions filed by more than 100 people from the two villages who had moved the court challenging acquisition of their land by the State government without them being given an opportunity to raise their objections and without being offered adequate compensation.

Huge embarrassment

The order comes as a major embarrassment to the Mayawati government. The High Court had set aside the acquisition of 150 hectares of land in Sahberi village in Greater Noida area on May 12 this year and that of another 73 acres in Surajpur Pargana village on May 13.

The UP government's appeal against the High Court order in the Sahberi village case was recently struck down by the Supreme Court which also pulled up the State administration over its land acquisition policy.

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