Guj HC relief to farmers whose lands were acquired

The Gujarat High Court on Thursday held that even if land in a village falls under the jurisdiction of an urban development authority, it will still be considered as rural land, and the owner should get compensation four times the market price.

Hearing petitions filed by 68 farmers from Gandhinagar district, a bench of justices A S Dave and Biren Vaishnav quashed two government notifications which denied them compensation for their acquired land under the Land Acquisition Act of 2013.

The petitioners were from Ferozepur, Lavarpur and Prantiya villages in the district.

These villages were included under the Gandhinagar Urban Development Authority (GUDA). In 2011, petitioners' lands were acquired for National Highway 8.

In November 2016, the government issued a notification declaring that "urban area" would also include the villages brought under any urban development authority, such as GUDA.

As per the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, urban land owners are entitled to get two times the market price as compensation. In rural areas, the compensation is four times the market rate.

In September 2018, another notification said the farmers whose land falls under urban authorities will get compensation on par with that in other rural areas, that is, four times the market price.

The petitioners contended that the 2018 rule applies to future acquisitions, it does not benefit them.

They ended up getting less compensation, they said.

Petitioners' lawyer Saurabh Amin argued that both notifications violated the Constitution as well as the Land Acquisition Act.

Article 243(q) of the Constitution clearly states that urban area means only that which falls under a municipality, not the area brought under urban authority like GUDA, he said.

The lands in question must be considered as rural lands despite being in GUDA, and the compensation must be calculated as per the 2013 Act, he said.

The high court on Thursday quashed both notifications and held that the land under urban authority is also rural land, and owners are eligible for a compensation four times the market rate.

The court asked the government to pay the difference with interest to the petitioners.