SC orders status quo on Atlas' dispossessed land

The Supreme Court has ordered the status quo with regard to the land that Atlas Cycles has been dispossessed of and which allegedly has been acquired by the Haryana Government.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, while issuing notice to the state government, has asked parties to maintain the status quo on the land.

It had earlier restrained the Haryana government from dispossessing Atlas Cycles of the land, acquired under the Land Acquisition Act for residential and commercial purposes.

Atlas had challenged the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment that allowed the state government to acquire its "34-year-old non-polluting and non-hazardous factory land".

The High Court had dismissed the Atlas petition challenging the acquisition on the grounds that the land is in the middle of an area that is being sought to be developed and was not in use when the notification was issued, in November 2001.

According to Atlas Cycles, its plant, which employed around 250 workers, was set up on 7.12 acres in village Rasoa in Sonepat and had all the clearances required.

Alleging that its factory was facing imminent closure without the authority of law, Atlas said that the state government had given an undertaking to the company in July 1974, at the time of setting up the factory, that no proceedings would be initiated with regard to the land under the Act.

According to Atlas, the state government had issued a notification in November 2001 for acquiring 664.13 acres in Village Rasoi including its land.

However, the authorities had assured the company that its factory is not under the purview of the Act and that it would be exempted from acquisition, it added.

Besides, the government policy of October 26, 2007, did not mark those areas for acquisition where factories were set up prior to the initiation of the acquisition process, it said.

The High Court had failed to appreciate that the Haryana government's policy is against acquiring built-up structures and thus the authorities were not justified in acquiring the petitioner's land, on which a duly-approved factory is located and is functional, the petition stated.