HC: Land pooling policy may hit fertile land & social milieu, notified in haste
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Chandigarh: While staying Punjab's Land Pooling Policy 2025, the Punjab and Haryana high court has held that the land sought to be acquired is among the most fertile in the state, and it is possible that "it may impact the social milieu.
" In its order released on Saturday, the HC stated that the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, bars the acquisition of multi-cropped land, and such acquisition is permissible only in exceptional circumstances.
The court was also of the view that no timelines have been prescribed, nor has any mechanism been provided to address the grievances of the affected persons.
"We are prima facie also of the view that the policy appears to have been notified in haste and all concerns, including social impact assessment, environmental impact assessment, timelines, and redressal grievance mechanism, should have been addressed at the very outset in the policy, before its notification," the HC observed while staying the policy until Sep 10.
A division bench comprising Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and Justice Deepak Manchanda passed these orders while hearing a petition filed by Gurdeep Singh, 72, a resident of Ludhiana district. He sought directions to quash the notification dated June 4, 2025, along with the Land Pooling Policy 2025, being ultra vires and an act of colourable legislation, violating fundamental rights.
Speaking for the bench, Justice Grewal observed that the state proposes to take over tens of thousands of acres of fertile land in the entire Punjab for carrying out its proposed development work, without conducting any Social Impact Assessment or Environmental Impact Assessment study.
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Although a stand is taken that the assessment would be carried out later when they have definite information about the number of landowners who have opted for the scheme, it has been held by the Supreme Court in several cases that before permitting urban development, the state ought to carry out an environmental impact assessment.
The judge also observed that payment of subsistence allowance has been provided to the landowners, but there is no provision for the rehabilitation of those landless labourers, artisans, and others who are dependent on the land.
"It has also been submitted before this Court that the state's statutory bodies shall themselves develop the land, but no budgetary provisions appear to have been made, nor has anything been put forth before this Court to indicate that the state has adequate resources to finance the development project under the policy," the HC observed.
In its nine-page order, the bench also mentioned that the court has come across several instances wherein the owners surrendered their land to the state development authority under the earlier land pooling policy, but the developed plots have not been allotted even after 10 years.
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