SC notices to Centre, UP, R-Power on Dadri land issue

The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Centre, the UP government and Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Power (R-Power) on a bunch of petitions filed by farmers, seeking CBI enquiry into the alleged acquisition of about 2,500 acre by force for power project at Dadri.

A bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar issued notices on farmers' petitions challenging the validity of the land acquisition.

The court has sought responses within two months and posted the matter for hearing in December.

While some petitioners have alleged that the land has been wrongly acquired for private purpose, on the pretext of public interest, others have said it was forcibly acquired.

In one of the petitions, a resident of village Bajhera Khurd in Dadri, Manoj Kumar alleged that "Reliance group henchman had entered his village" to acquire the land by force.

Other farmers argued the state government in 2004 acquired vast area of land at the behest of R-Power for private purposes but, in the notification under section 4 of Land Acquisition Act, the government declared that it was for public purposes.

"Thus the then government of Uttar Pradesh played a fraud on farmers in acquiring their precious land at throw away prices of Rs 160 per sq yard, whereas the market price of the land was several times higher," the farmers alleged.

They have sought quashing of the entire acquisition proceedings.

When the matter was heard by the Allahabad High Court, it delivered the order on December 4, 2009 and partly quashed land acquisition proceedings.

The petition has said, "State government allowed Reliance power to get signed papers by hook and crook with the help of henchmen, criminals as well as with full support of the state police..."

It alleged the henchmen of the Reliance group had forcefully opened bank account and deposited so called compensation in their account to justify their action as legal and valid.

"On January 7, 2006 hundred of reliance henchmen, criminals having firearms, iron road, Lathi in their hand along with police force protection entered in the village with warning to vacate huts, agricultural land and to get out from the villages."

The petition further said, "Upon denial and protest they started pulling villagers, their family and peoples from their huts, mud-houses and started to beat them...."

He claimed that UP Police arrested several hundred injured farmers "under false FIR".

Kumar has requested the apex court to "issue direction calling special independent inquiry report to be conducted by the CBI pertaining to the criminal offence conducted by the R-Power, it's henchmen, state authority and others".

The petitioner also requested the apex court to direct the centre and the state government to provide copies of the "charge sheets, filed and pending in the court of district Gaziabad against" residents of Bhajhera Khurd.