Question mark over other prestigious Mohali projects after apex court dismisses plea on Anandgarh township
Maneesh Chhibber
Chandigarh, July 08: “I am delighted to be here today to lay the foundation stone for a new temple of learning in Punjab, the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research. I sincerely believe - and it is my earnest hope - that this institute will take Punjab to a new horizon in science teaching and research.”
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke these words on September 27, 2006 during the foundation stone laying ceremony of Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) at Mohali. The IISER is to be set up on about 200 acres in Sector 81 at a cost of Rs 500 crore.
In the same speech, the PM had also expressed happiness over the fact that first of the five National Institutes of Public Health was being set up at Mohali by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) in collaboration with the Punjab government.
However, the recent judgment of the Supreme Court in the Anandgarh case — the SC set aside land acquisition for the prestigious project on the grounds of procedural lapses by the government agencies — may derail these projects.
While the process for acquisition of land for these projects is mired in legal tangles, the state government officials don't want to admit whether these prestigious projects would be completed on time and, more importantly, at the same spots where they were planned.
Apart from the National Institute of Public Health, Mohali was also selected to be the site of country's third IISER, National Institute of Biotechnology and the National Institute of Nanotechnology.
Land owners have challenged the acquisition process on the ground that the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act (PRTPDA), 1995, were being violated.
“We have already challenged the process of land acquisition for these projects at Sector 81, Mohali. Our main contention, something that has been upheld by the apex court, is that the government turned the entire process faulty by not following the provisions of Sections 56 and 57 of the PRTPDA.
According to these sections, there has to be a Board to specify an area as a regional planning area, local planning area or a site for a new town or project clearly defining the limits of the area. After considering the objections and suggestions that may be received by it, the Board may declare the area to be a planning area by a notification in the official Gazette, and thereafter appoint a planning agency for performance of the functions related thereto. However, this procedure was not followed in the impugned cases,” said senior advocate G S Grewal, counsel for the landowners, who have challenged the acquisition process.
In Anandgarh's case, the Supreme Court held that “the declaration of the planning area, a site for a new town, was never validly made by the competent authority after following the prescribed procedure and, therefore, there was in law no validly selected site for a new town nor a validly declared planning area”.
Grewal said now that the SC has ruled on the issue, the cases pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in which same questions of law has been raised are likley to be dealt in a similar manner.
In the case of land for IISER, after the government announced compensations for each of the about 400 acres to be acquired in the villages of Chilla, Mauli Baidwan, Kumbra, Raipur Khurd and Manauli villages, the landowners challenged the award, too.
Maneesh Chhibber
Chandigarh, July 08: “I am delighted to be here today to lay the foundation stone for a new temple of learning in Punjab, the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research. I sincerely believe - and it is my earnest hope - that this institute will take Punjab to a new horizon in science teaching and research.”
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke these words on September 27, 2006 during the foundation stone laying ceremony of Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) at Mohali. The IISER is to be set up on about 200 acres in Sector 81 at a cost of Rs 500 crore.
In the same speech, the PM had also expressed happiness over the fact that first of the five National Institutes of Public Health was being set up at Mohali by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) in collaboration with the Punjab government.
However, the recent judgment of the Supreme Court in the Anandgarh case — the SC set aside land acquisition for the prestigious project on the grounds of procedural lapses by the government agencies — may derail these projects.
While the process for acquisition of land for these projects is mired in legal tangles, the state government officials don't want to admit whether these prestigious projects would be completed on time and, more importantly, at the same spots where they were planned.
Apart from the National Institute of Public Health, Mohali was also selected to be the site of country's third IISER, National Institute of Biotechnology and the National Institute of Nanotechnology.
Land owners have challenged the acquisition process on the ground that the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act (PRTPDA), 1995, were being violated.
“We have already challenged the process of land acquisition for these projects at Sector 81, Mohali. Our main contention, something that has been upheld by the apex court, is that the government turned the entire process faulty by not following the provisions of Sections 56 and 57 of the PRTPDA.
According to these sections, there has to be a Board to specify an area as a regional planning area, local planning area or a site for a new town or project clearly defining the limits of the area. After considering the objections and suggestions that may be received by it, the Board may declare the area to be a planning area by a notification in the official Gazette, and thereafter appoint a planning agency for performance of the functions related thereto. However, this procedure was not followed in the impugned cases,” said senior advocate G S Grewal, counsel for the landowners, who have challenged the acquisition process.
In Anandgarh's case, the Supreme Court held that “the declaration of the planning area, a site for a new town, was never validly made by the competent authority after following the prescribed procedure and, therefore, there was in law no validly selected site for a new town nor a validly declared planning area”.
Grewal said now that the SC has ruled on the issue, the cases pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in which same questions of law has been raised are likley to be dealt in a similar manner.
In the case of land for IISER, after the government announced compensations for each of the about 400 acres to be acquired in the villages of Chilla, Mauli Baidwan, Kumbra, Raipur Khurd and Manauli villages, the landowners challenged the award, too.
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