VIOLATION
OF SC ORDER
31/8/2013
Rahul
Noronha | Hindustan Times
Bhopal: Even
as Parliament on Thursday passed the land acquisition bill to protect
farmlands from being taken over by corporates for industrial or
commercial use, in a blatant violation of a Supreme Court order of
2011, the state revenue department has included common lands of
villages in the land bank created for allotment of lands for
industrial and commercial purposes.
A
bench of the Supreme Court of justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha
Mishra in their order of January 28, 2011 in Jagpal Singh and others
versus state of Punjab stated, “In many states, government orders
have been issued by state governments permitting allotment of gram
sabha land to private persons and commercial enterprises on payment
of some money. In our opinion all such government orders are illegal
and should be ignored.”
Changing
the earlier system of allotment of land for industrial or commercial
projects, the state cabinet in its meeting on May 28 endorsed a
dakhal rahit land allotment policy for investment purposes. Under
this, investors seeking land for investment purposes can choose the
suitable from a land bank listed on the website of commissioner, land
records. The investor will then apply to the department concerned
which will examine the proposal and suggest or reject allotment to
the district collector. The collector would then follow procedure for
allotment by holding a hearing or inviting objections.
A
look at the land bank created in 48 districts in the state, available
on the website of the commissioner, land records suggests that in
many cases status of lands incorporated in the land bank is mentioned
as charnoi, marghat (cremation ground), graveyard, gauchar,
playground, goha and grazing land, which suggests they are common
lands in villages that cannot be allotted for any other purposes as
per the SC order of 2011.
Even
the MP land revenue code states that common lands in villages can be
used only for the stated purpose.
“The
state government is not only taking away common lands from villages
but also keeping investors in the dark. It is offering lands to
investors which cannot be taken as per Supreme Court orders,” said
social activist Anil Garg. “The land bank may reflect common land
of villages but for investment purposes common lands will not be
allotted unless they are substituted by the investor,” said an
official of the revenue department
Even if the plans are allowed and given sanction, 'how could the non-owners of the 'Commons' sell it when the 'Commons Village' was created by the contribution of the land owners of the villages conferring right to ownership on Panchayat Samiti or government.As such sale takes place between the non owners and the bona fide buyers.In such a case, sale proceeds should go to land owners as per their share listed in 'Ismaye Malkan'
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