Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Mar 1: High Court has dismissed the plea of a land owner seeking enhancement of compensation and damages for taking over his land for the purposes of beautification of Dal lake.
The land of the petitioner-Showkat Ahmad Jan and others was acquired for the purpose of development of Dal Lake and they were paid the compensation accordingly and now they projected the case that after the acquisition, it was developed as a park, named as ‘Makai Park’ and thereafter the VC LCMA invited tenders for the running of the Park on commercial basis which was accordingly allotted to one Nisar Ahmad Shahdad to occupy and use the same on yearly rent of Rs 6.7 lakhs.
The petitioners have relied upon the orders passed by the District Judge, Srinagar as well as the Appellate Court, wherein the intended purpose of the acquisition of the land has been specifically mentioned as beautification of the Lake and further that there is complete ban on construction in the area on these basis they have prayed for quashing of the whole land acquisition proceedings and further for restoring the possession of land back to them and to pay them damages to the extent of Rs.1.00 crore or to pay compensation to them in accordance with the present market value taking into consideration the commercial value and use of the land.
The Division Bench of Justice Rajnesh Oswal and Justice Mohan Lal after perusal of the record said the land in question was acquired for the purpose of development of Dal Lake and later on a park was proposed to be established thereon pursuant to the Detailed Project Report (DPR) formulated by the Alternate Hydro Energy Centre, Roorkee.
The Respondent-LCMA have categorically denied that they have raised any huts or other concrete commercial structure on spot, as alleged by the petitioners. The Respondents, for the purpose of maintenance and running of the park, have allotted the contract to the successful bidder.
Court dismissed all the prayers as sought by the petitioners and recorded the plea is grossly misconceived as the land was acquired for the purpose of beautification of Dal Lake and for that purpose, the Park has been developed on the land as per the Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared by the concerned Authority and it is only for the purpose of maintenance and running of the park that the Respondents floated the tender for allotment of contract for a certain period and thereafter, allotted the same to the highest bidder and the Petitioners too could have participated in the said tender process.
“It is not the case of the petitioners that the acquired land has been transferred to some private entity/ company for purpose other than for which the same was acquired and therefore the arguments of the counsel for the petitioners, is not applicable to the facts and circumstances of the present case.
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