Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday granted some respite to the Telangana state government by selectively staying an order of a single judge that had struck down a Government Order, Ms No. 123, issued for acquiring land from the land owners through mutual consent for public projects.
While staying the single judge order, the High Court made it clear that the stay will be applicable only to the land being procured for the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in Medak district.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice U. Durga Prasad Rao, while dealing with an appeal from the state against the single judge order, said it would hear separately the petitions challenging GO 123 with regard to procurement of land for irrigation projects.
The present interim order will be confined simply to the land procurement for the NIMZ. The bench advised the government to issue a GO extending the compensation to the families affected by land acquisition for NIMZ.
Telangana gets conditional go-ahead
The bench advised the government to propose a better compensation package than the benefits envisaged under Schedule 2 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
It ruled that no farmer shall be displaced till completion of the entire land acquisition process. Also, no obstruction shall be caused to the landowners in continuing with their farming activities.
The bench said the court would permit registration only after perusing the GO that would be issued by the government to provide compensation to the families affected by the NIMZ and posted the case to August 11.
Earlier, counsel for the petitioners referred to the court a complaint that there was no proposal to compensate tenant farmers, in the government affidavit.
The Central Act 2013 proposes employment to one person from each of the affected families under Schedule 2 (4). As per the provision, the government has to give training and provide a job.
Or else, government should pay Rs 5 lakh to each family as one-time compensation, or pay Rs 2 000 per month for 20 years in accordance with the price index.
When petitioners’ counsel said some landowners who had small pieces of land were not showing interest to sell their land, the Advocate-General responded that the government would not take a cent of land if an owner was not interested in selling.
Harish sees Congress in Naidu’s ‘conspiracy’
Irrigation minister T. Harish Rao on Tuesday welcomed the High Court vacating a single judge’s stay on land acquisition and said that GO 123 benefitted farmers.
“We have made an open offer to farmers. Let them choose either GO 123 or 2013 Act. But I can assure you that GO 123 benefits farmers,” the minister asserted.
Asked about TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy’s decision to move the Supreme Court against the HC division bench’s stay, he quipped, “Let him go.”
He alleged Opposition parties — the Congress and the Telugu Desam have joined the AP government and AP Chief Minister N. Chandra-babu Naidu’s conspiracy to stall the irrigation projects in the state.
