SC sets aside Gujarat govt order on land deal

Asks intended beneficiary, Alumina Refinery, to pay Rs 3.15 cr of it wants to proceed with project

The Supreme Court today set aside the order of the Gujarat government and the collector of Kutch allowing the sale of 36 acres in Bhuj to Alumina Refinery. The court called the sale “bad in law and arbitrary”. The court said that the company should pay Rs 3.15 crore to the government if it wants to proceed with the project. The land would now vest in the government.

The high court had dismissed a public interest petition by a congress leader challenging the sale, allegedly at the behest of Anandi Ben Patel, Revenue minister. The parcel of land had originally been allotted by the state government to Indigold refinery.  But it could not set up its project within the three-year deadline. The minister thereafter allowed the sale of the land to Alumina Refinery in 2009, though the Chief Secretary opposed the deal. There was no public auction and it was a company to company sale approved by the government. This was challenged as arbitrary.

In the order passed by the Supreme Court it stated that if Alumina Refinery wanted to go ahead with its projects in the land, it should pay Rs 3.15 crore. It had paid Indigold only Rs 1.20  crore. “In the event the amount is not so paid within three months hereafter, the Government will proceed to take further steps to dispose of the land.”