Allahabad HC rejects plea for 4 times price for Jewar airport land

NOIDA: The Allahabad high court on Monday rejected a bunch of writ petitions by some farmers in Jewar demanding four times compensation for their land that has been acquired for the proposed international airport.


The order paves way for the Noida administration to start disbursing compensation after the polls in Gautam Budh Nagar on April 11. All work related to the airport project had been stalled after a section of 100-odd farmers from six villages moved the high court. The petitioners are now planning to approach the Supreme Court against Monday’s order.

Gangadhar Shukla, who was representing the landowners in the high court, said the division bench of Justices Pankaj Kumar Jaiswal and YK Srivastava found “no merit” in the case. “They rejected the farm owners’ petition as there was ‘no merit’ in them. The farmers are unhappy and have decided to move the Supreme Court,” he added.

The high court’s ruling is binding on all eight petitions filed by the farmers over compensation. The administration is offering Rs 2,300 per square metre, which is over twice the circle rate of Rs 900 in Jewar. The protesting farmers have been demanding Rs 3,600 per square metre. The administration had managed to secure the mandatory 70% consent for land acquisition and was planning to hold a foundation ceremony in the first week of March when the farmers moved court, which issued a stay.

Officials said now that the legal hurdle has been cleared, compensation will be awarded to the landlosers after the polls this week. Balram Singh, ADM (land acquisition), said compensation could not be awarded immediately as administrative officials are busy in the poll process. “This project was launched before the elections were announced. So, the compensation has nothing to do with the model code of conduct. We will give compensation to farmers in Rohi, Parohi, Banwaribas and Ranhera villages first. The farmers will start getting compensation from April 12 onwards,” he said. The compensation for farmers in Kishorpur and Dayanatpur villages will be given later.