Allahabad HC pulls up Noida authority for demolition of farmer’s house

The Allahabad high court has asked the Noida authority to file reply on, or before July 8, in a case involving the alleged demolition of a farmer’s house

The Allahabad high court has asked the Noida authority to file reply on, or before July 8, in a case involving the alleged demolition of a farmer’s house.

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According to Naval Singh, his family was wrongfully evicted from their ‘Abadi plot’ in Nangli Wazidpur, Sector 135, Noida. Singh’s mother, Sanja Devi bought the 800-yard residential land in 1996, and the family has been living there since.

In 1997, the Noida authority notified this area for planned development under the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Act (1976). They tried to acquire this plot in 2003, but Singh refused and did not accept the compensation.

The authority first tried to evict the farmer in July 2019 but was unsuccessful. To protect his land, Singh approached the Allahabad high court in August 2019 to regularise their ‘Abadi plot’. Subsequently, the court directed the Noida authority to investigate the farmers’ demand of regularisation on September 26, 2019.

“But the Noida authority did not act on my requests to not acquire the land. We kept running from pillar to post for two years and finally on October 1, 2020, they rejected my application to regularise the land without following procedure,” Singh said.

On May 18, the authority demolished Singh’s house. A group of farmers, disgruntled by the demolition, attempted to gherao Uttar Pradesh industries minister Nand Gopal Gupta.

The farmers shouted slogans against the authority and were pacified only after the minister agreed to hear them out. Later, farmers from different villages led by farm leader Sukhbir Yadav gathered at the site and reconstructed the house.

Following this, Sanja Devi filed a plea with the Allahabad high court on May 26.

“The high court pulled up the Noida authority for evicting a farmer from an Abadi plot. The court said that if this Abadi plot is mentioned as residential, instead of agricultural, in land records then the authority has no reason to harass the farmer,” said Sachin Awana, the petitioner’s lawyer.

Praveen Kumar Mishra, additional chief executive officer, Noida authority, said, “We are examining the legal aspects of this case to take appropriate steps required by law.”

The bench of justice Kaushal Jayendra Thaker and justice Ajay Tyagi will hear the matter next on July 25.