Orissa High Court units July 14 deadline for NH challenge

By Express News Service
CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has set July 14 deadline for the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to give you a contemporary timeline for completion of the method of buying land to assemble a 3-km street as a part of NH-23 in Sundargarh.The court docket stated the method might be accomplished solely after figuring out and disbursing compensation to the current homeowners of land which NHAI had scheduled for buying. 

Nine individuals had moved the High Court difficult NHAI’s notification for buying their land with out compensation. The petitioners claimed that they had been in peaceable possession of the land on which they’d constructed buildings and had document of rights (RoRs) of their names.The court docket has taken up seven of the petitions up to now and handed interim keep orders on any additional demolition since January this 12 months. While NHAI filed counter affidavits within the matter, the petitions had been taken up for analogous listening to by way of video convention on June 10. 

In the affidavit, the NHAI stated the land presently occupied by the petitioners had been in actual fact acquired by the State authorities in 1959 and subsequently, had been offered by the erstwhile land homeowners to the current occupants. But the court docket was not impressed.The division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice KR Mohapatra noticed, “The fact, however, remains that the NHAI proceeded on the basis of that the said land belonged to the petitioners and therefore, started a fresh acquisition process under the National Highways Act by issuing a notification on August 23, 2013.”

The bench additional stated, “Till that process of acquisition stands completed by determining and paying compensation payable to the petitioners, they cannot be expected to surrender possession of the lands in question.”As the NHAI’s counsel sought time to take instruction on how quickly the competent authority will have the ability to full the duty of figuring out and disbursing the compensation, the court docket allowed him time until July 14, the date fastened for subsequent listening to on the matter.

Around 30.13 acre land in Jamunanaki, Lungei and Gopapali villages below Lathikata tehsil in Sundargarh district was acquired by the federal government in 1959. The street was constructed on some parts of the acquired land, however the authorities by no means took bodily possession over relaxation almost 20 acre. As a outcome, RoRs of the land continued within the homeowners’ names.