Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 5
Acting of a petition filed by 16 farmers, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed their dispossession. The High Court also issued notice of motion to Haryana and six private builders.

The order was passed on the petition by farmers of Badshapur, a small village 14 km from Gurgaon. It came less than a month after the High Court quashed the acquisition proceedings for nearly five acres in Gurgaon, holding that the process was initiated in 2009 with the intention to help private builders and other affluent individuals.

The high court on January 9 had quashed the Haryana government notification initially for acquiring 1,400 acres in eight villages around Gurgaon for developing Sectors 58 to 63. A year after the notification, Haryana government had released around 95 per cent of the acquired land to private builders and even granted licences to some for developing housing projects on the land. The villages in which the land was acquired were Nangli Umarpur, Tigra, Ulhawas, Kadarpur, Medawas, Badshahpur, Behrampur and Ghatta.

Justice Surya Kant had ordered quashing of the notification following petitions filed by residents of Badshahpur, who argued that their prime land was acquired at throwaway prices and later handed over to private developers.

Among builders having large portions of land in the affected area were Ireo, Krrish Buildtech and Commander Realtors. Other developers in the area include M3M, Emaar MGF, Anant Raj and Nova.