SC upholds HC ruling against acquisition of Greater Noida land

New Delhi, Jul 6 (PTI) India's apex court on Wednesday
upheld the Allahabad High Court order quashing the acquisition
of over 156 hectares of land from farmers in Greater Noida in
the country's northern state of Uttar Pradesh and allotting it
to builders.
The Supreme Court of India also imposed Rs 10 lakh as
cost on the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority
(GNIDA) and directed it to hand over the land to the villagers
and farmers.
"GNIDA allotted the land to builders in complete
violation for which the land was acquired," a bench comprising
justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly said.
The bench said even before the government approved
the use of land from industrial to residential purposes, the
authority allotted the land to some builders.
The bench said it need not interfere into the
judgement of the division bench of the high court which held
that the urgency provision applied by the authority for the
acquisition of land was "entirely a colourable exercise
of power."
The court said it will give detailed reasoning for
arriving at this judgement later.
The court passed its order on a petition filed by
GNIDA and real estate developers and builders, including
Supertech and Amrapali, challenging the high court order which
had quashed the notifications for land acquisition in Greater
Noida adjoining the national capital. PTI AAC
ASR