Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has dismissed 154 writ petitions challenging an award dated Jan 10, 2024 passed by the Special Land Acquisition Officer under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 for acquisition of land in village Bairwan in Varanasi.The land acquisition proceedings were initiated by Varanasi Development Authority (VDA) in 2000. The petitioners, led by Vijay Kumar along with 153 others, sought quashing of the award, contending that compensation should have been calculated by applying the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, with market value computed as of Jan 1, 2014, when the 2013 law came into force.A division bench comprising Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Kunal Ravi Singh held that the impugned award had been announced in compliance with earlier court directions and, therefore, did not warrant interference. The court observed that an award made under the 1894 Act pursuant to judicial directions, specifically to frame it in light of Supreme Court ruling in Delhi Airtech Services Private Limited and another vs State of U.P. and another, cannot be challenged on the ground that market value ought to have been determined as on Jan 1, 2014 under the 2013 Act.The petitioners also argued that the public purpose for the acquisition had been changed by the Authority without permission. Rejecting this contention, the bench noted that such a ground was available in earlier rounds of litigation but was not raised then.The court said the present proceedings were limited to the challenge to the award formulated under earlier directions, and once it was found that the award followed those directions, no other grounds required examination, as earlier challenges had already been negated. The judgement was delivered on Aug 7.
