Saturday, November 18, 2006

SC rejects plea against Reliance’s land buy for SEZ

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2006 12:49:49 AM]

NEW DELHI:: The Supreme Court has declined to stay the acquisition of
land by Reliance Infrastructure for the Jamnagar SEZ. Farmers had
approached the apex court, appealing against a verdict of the Gujarat HC
which was not in their favour.

A two-judge bench said farmers whose land has been acquired could
approach the court if they were not satisfied with the compensation
amount. The bench made it clear that it would not interfere with the
high court’s verdict. Reliance has acquired 9,000 acres in Jamnagar for
its petro-product SEZ.

The Mukesh Ambani group company plans to increase the size of the
project beyond 10,000 acres and convert it into a multi-product SEZ. The
SC’s decision means that SEZ developers would not face legal resistance
in terms of land acquisition if they provided 'satisfactory' compensation.

The SEZ policy has been facing turbulence due to protests from various
political parties who feel states are buying land at rates that are
below market prices only to hand it over to corporates. In some cases,
companies have been told to acquire land directly and states like West
Bengal have decided that only wasteland should be taken over for SEZs.

Farmers had opposed the Jamnagar SEZ, alleging that rules had been
violated in the acquisition of land. Initially they approached the
Gujarat High Court, which dismissed their plea against allotment of land
to Reliance in five villages.

The farmers approached the SC and sought the cancellation of the
allotment since the Central government was of the view that only
non-agriculture land should be used for SEZs. While declining to cancel
the allotment, the apex court said grievances related to compensation
could be considered but the petition cannot be entertainment.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/432611.cms

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