HC directs Yeida to remove fence around land of farmers in GB Nagar
The petitioners, who are farmers, have alleged that neither their land has been acquired nor have they executed any sale deed in favour of Yeida, but authorities have put fencing around their land for the project
PRAYAGRAJ The Allahabad high court has, in a matter related to land acquisition for an international film city in Noida, directed the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) to remove any fence it has put up around the land of farmers in Rabupura village of Gautam Buddha Nagar until it is either acquired or purchased from them.
The petitioners – Dharmendra Kumar and eight others, who are farmers - have alleged that neither their land has been acquired nor have they executed any sale deed in favour of Yeida but the authorities have put fencing around their land for the project.
Disposing of the writ petition filed by Kumar and others, a division bench comprising Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Manoj Kumar Nigam, in its order dated September 5, directed that in case any fencing has been put by the Yeida over the land of the petitioners, it would be removed.
In the petition, it was alleged that in June 2024, the UP government, through Yeida, launched the International Film City project in Sector 21. The authority prepared a plan that International Film City would be constructed on 1,000 acres.
For this, Yeida issued a public notice on August 25 inviting landowners of the village to sell their land in Sector 21. Thereafter, the petitioners filed their objections before the authority against the public notice, declining to execute any sale deed regarding their land.
“However, to the utter surprise of the petitioners, Yeida put a signboard in the petitioners’ village and started fencing the area, making it out of bounds for them,” the petitioners alleged.
The petitioners requested the court to direct Yeida to remove fencing put by them over the land of the petitioners situated at Rabupura village, Gautam Buddh Nagar. They also urged it to restrain Yeida from interfering in the peaceful possession and cultivation of the land until it is acquired for the international film city in accordance with statutory provisions.
During the court proceedings, the counsel for the Yeida stated that petitioners had submitted a consent application for transfer of their land in favour of the authority and later they put forth various kinds of objections.
In response, the counsel for the petitioners submitted that there was no consensus on the rate and therefore, the petitioners had not executed any sale deed in favour of Yeida. In these circumstances, it has no right to interfere in the possession of petitioners or to put any fencing around their land.
Counsel for the Yeida could not dispute the said submission of the petitioners and said that till the sale deed was obtained or the land was acquired in accordance with statutory provisions, the authority would not interfere in the possession of petitioners.