In a setback to the Mayawati government and thousands of apartment buyers, the Allahabad high court on Friday set aside acquisition of land in three villages of Noida, Greater Noida and Noida Extension areas while ordering enhanced compensation to farmers of some other villages in Gautam Budh Nagar district.
The order was passed by a specially-constituted three-judge bench comprising justices Ashok Bhushan, SU Khan and VK Shukla on the writ petition of 491 farmers from more than a dozen villages in the district who have challenged the acquisition of more than 3000 hectares of land by the state government.
Owners of residential flats in the three affected villages - Deola, Chak Shahberi and Asadullahpur - will be hit by the ruling.
The court has ruled that affected farmers of these villages were "entitled to restoration of their land subject to the return of any compensation they have already received".
The court also ordered that "no further construction shall take place in the area unless approval for the same is given by the National Capital Region Planning Board".