Hyderabad: Several farmers, real estate developers and plot owners from Guntur district have moved the Hyderabad High Court on Monday challenging a GO issued by the Andhra Pradesh government to acquire lands for “Capital city development” in the Capital Region Development Authority region.
The AP government on May 14 issued GO 166 to initiate land acquisition process for its new capital. The petitioners submitted that the state government has no power to exempt the Capital City Development Project in the guise of public interest from the application of the provisions of Chapter II and III of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, as amended by Ordinance 4 of 2015.
They told the court that the provisions of Chapter II and Chapter III of the Act, empowers the governments to exempt certain projects vital to national security or defence of India and every part thereof, including preparation for defence or defence production and rural infrastructure including electrification and housing and housing for the poor people.
They contended the government seems to have coined Capital City Development Project to appear as if it was also a project under provision 10 A (1) therefore, it should be exempted from Chapter II and Chapter III of the Act 13.
The petitioners said that their lands falls in the core capital city area identified by the government for the proposed new capital in Tullur and Mangalagiri mandals of Guntur district and that they had already entered into a developmental agreement with one of the petitioner’s company. They urged the HC to suspend operation of the GO and to declare it as illegal and arbitrary.
