Use pvt land only after acquiring it legally: HC to state authorities

Prayagraj: Allahabad high court has warned the state authorities against using land of private citizens without acquiring the same through proper legal procedures. It further said that officials responsible for such unauthorised acquisition will face heavy penalties which will be recovered from their personal accounts.
A bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Anish Kumar Gupta made this observation while hearing a petition filed by a landowner, Kanyawati, whose land in Bareilly was acquired by the public works department for road widening without being paying her the compensation.
The bench in its March 4 order directed the district level committee to determine the compensation of the land acquired and pay the same within four weeks along with interest to the petitioner.
Though the court did not impose costs in the present case, it emphasized that authorities must ensure private land is not used without acquisition and due compensation. "While disapproving the action of the State Authorities of utilizing the land of the petitioner without Authority of Law, we are refraining ourselves from awarding the penalty against the State Authorities who have utilized the land without sanction of law," the bench said.
The court held that the right to property being a constitutional right instead of a fundamental right was at par with human rights and a person could not be deprived of the right over his property without following due procedure in law. It held that any person whose land is being utilized without sanction of law is entitled to compensation.
"The land of a person cannot be acquired without payment of due compensation in accordance with law. There is no concept of implied consent for utilizing the land of a citizen without following the due procedure and without payment of compensation. The property of a citizen can be acquired for public purpose on payment of reasonable compensation in accordance with law," the court observed.
The petitioner had purchased land in Bareilly, where official records showed a chak road running to the south of her plot. However, when the road was widened, a portion of her land was taken without compensation. After filing an RTI application, she discovered that no record of acquisition proceedings existed. Despite multiple representations, authorities failed to address her grievance. Thereafter, Kanyawati filed a writ petition before the high court.
Earlier, the HC had directed the Bareilly DM to refer the matter to the District Level Committee (DLC) for compensation determination. However, the DLC in Feb 2020 rejected her claim, arguing that the road widening did not infringe upon any private rights. The petitioner then challenged the decision in the high court under Article 226 of the Constitution.