The Hindu : Front Page : U.P. move in land row stayed

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Tuesday, Oct 14, 2008
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U.P. move in land row stayed

Special Correspondent

Railways directed not to undertake fresh constructions

Court was acting on writ petition filed by Indian Railways and a petition by two farmers
It refuses to intervene in the issue of ‘bhumi pujan’ and rally thereafter

LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court directed the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday not to transfer the 189.25 hectares of land in Lalganj, in Rae Bareli district of Uttar Pradesh, to the Gram Samaj or to allot ‘pattas.’

The State government cancelled the order acquiring the land for constructing a rail coach factory on Saturday.

Delivering its order on a writ petition filed by the Indian Railways and a public interest litigation petition filed by two Lalganj farmers, a bench of Justice Pradeep Kant and Justice S. Hasnain directed the Railways not to undertake any fresh construction on the land. The court refused to intervene in the issue of ‘bhumi pujan’ and a rally thereafter as they were not mentioned in the petitions.

The High Court fixed October 22 as the next date of hearing. While Additional Solicitor General, Ashok Nigam represented the Railways, Mohammad Arif was the counsel for the farmers. The State government was represented by L.P. Mishra.

The United Progressive Alliance Chairperson and member of Parliament from Rae Bareli, Sonia Gandhi, who was scheduled to be present at the ‘bhumi pujan’ and later address a public rally on Tuesday is now likely to address a public meeting at Aihar Inter College in Lalganj. Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh said here that the Congress president would reach Rae Bareli in the morning.

The 189.25 acres was acquired by the Commissioner of Lucknow Division on July 30 this year for allotment/transfer to the Indian Railways. The Rae Bareli District Magistrate directed the Railways on August 10 to deposit Rs. 8.96 crore in connection with the acquisition of government land and the money was deposited by the RCF, Rae Bareilly, with the State Treasury on August 12.

The receipt of the money was confirmed by the Additional Commissioner (Administration), Lucknow Division, in a letter dated August 28 to the Rae Bareli DM. The land ownership was transferred to the RCF on September 10. The Railways took possession of it the same day.

No ‘bhumi pujan’

PTI reports from New Delhi:

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said the ’bhumi pujan’ programme had been dropped in view of the High Court’s order for status quo.

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