High court orders land handover to NHAI for projects in Punjab

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed all deputy commissioners (DCs) in Punjab to ensure prompt and encumbrance-free handover of land to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for expeditious execution of highway projects.
The court emphasised that pending arbitration cases are not valid grounds for delaying or halting land possession by the NHAI. The court further clarified that if landowners obstruct the handover, the authorities must utilise all available measures to remove these obstacles, as previously instructed.
According to the order released on Friday, the high court also directed the NHAI to move applications before the courts concerned to remove legal hurdles in taking possession of land and file a status report by May 5. The court also dismissed applications from landowners seeking intervene in the matter stating they lacked locus standi.
"If awards become passed in respect of the structures, and yet there is unlawful retention of such lawfully acquired subject structures, the authorities concerned may endeavour to undertake the statutorily contemplated mechanism for ensuring the freeing of the structures from occupations by the land-losers concerned," the court ordered.
A division bench comprising Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Kuldeep Tiwari passed the orders on a petition filed by NHAI seeking possession of the acquired land for the projects in Punjab.
The counsel for NHAI, senior advocate Chetan Mittal, informed the court that informed the court that of the 1,288.31 km of national highway projects in Punjab, possession was still pending for 136.67 km, despite the Punjab chief secretary's affidavit indicating only 88.39 km.
On the last date of hearing, the court was not satisfied with the affidavits filed by the chief secretary which attributed delays to farmer union protests and landowners reclaiming possession. The bench then directed DCs and senior superintendents of police (SSPs) to appear in person and explain the discrepancies and delays.
When the matter came up for hearing on April 4, DCs provided specific timelines for land handover: Gurdaspur (four weeks), Tarn Taran (May 3), Sangrur (two weeks), Malerkotla (20 days), Ludhiana (two weeks), Jalandhar (April 30), Kapurthala (four weeks), Amritsar (May 3), Moga (four weeks), Fazilka (April 30), and Barnala (April 30).
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