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Land Law Relaxation
The Supreme Court has cautioned states against their "land-for-land" policies and said such schemes should be floated in rarest of the rare cases. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan further said a plea of deprivation of right to livelihood under Article 21 of the Constitution to oppose the land acquisition by the state was unsustainable as it called the litigation pursued by Haryana as an eye opener" for all states. The bench was acting on a batch of pleas filed by the Estate Officer of Haryana Urban Development Authority and others challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court's 2016 decision that upheld the trial court decrees favoring oustees. We have made ourselves very explicitly clear that in cases of land acquisition the plea of deprivation of right to livelihood under Article 21 of the Constitution is unsustainable, Justice Pardiwala said in a 88-page verdict on July 14. The high court held displaced landowners, whose land was acquired by Haryana authorities
The Uttarakhand Cabinet on Wednesday approved a stringent land law to "protect" the state's resources and "maintain" its original identity. People of the state had long been demanding the imposition of limits on individuals buying land in the state, officials said. Dhami had first expressed his intentions to bring a stringent land law in the state in September last year. Widespread violations of land purchase rules are being investigated, he had said at a press conference here in September and promised resolution of the longstanding demand for stricter land laws. "Fully respecting the long-standing demand of the people of the state and their sentiments, today the cabinet has approved a strict land law. This historic step will protect the resources of the state, cultural heritage and the rights of the citizens, as well as play an important role in maintaining the original identity of the state," Dhami said in a post on X soon after the Cabinet's decision on Wednesday. "Our governme