New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the Gujarat government’s decision to allocate 1,000 acres of land in Mundra for development of a special economic zone (SEZ) by Adani Port and Special Economic Zone, and dismissed a special leave petition challenging the allocation.
A division bench comprising Justice K. S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Dipak Misra dismissed the petition filed by residents of Zarpara village and few members of its 'gram panchayat' on grounds of lack of merit and refused to overrule the Gujarat High Court’s judgement dated June 22, 2011.
The bench observed that the Gujarat government was statutorily empowered to allocate the land and declined the petitioner’s request for allocation of an alternate 1,000 acre pastoral wasteland to the Zarpara 'panchayat'.
The Gujarat government had allotted 1,000 acres of pastoral land at Zarpara to Adani Port and
SEZ in 2007. However, this allocation was challenged in the Gujarat High Court via multiple public interest litigations, which were dismissed on June 22, 2011.
The petitioners then approached the Supreme Court alleging that the land allotment was illegal and arbitrary and had disturbed the ratio of cattle to pastoral land in the village as prescribed by the state government.
Adani Ports and SEZ contested these allegations and stated that the allotment was legal.
Source : rediff.com