Lucknow, Apr 22 A Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday stayed the ongoing land acquisition proceedings being undertaken for various schemes of the Uttar Pradesh Awas Evam Vikas Parishad (UPAEVP) in Ayodhya.
The court directed all parties, including the state government and district authorities, to maintain the status quo at the sites in question.
The matter has been posted for further hearing on Thursday.
A division bench comprising Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla passed the order on a batch of 11 writ petitions.
During the proceedings, counsel for the petitioners concluded their arguments.
However, when asked to respond, lawyers appearing for the housing and urban development department of the state government, the Ayodhya district magistrate and the UPAEVP expressed their inability to commence arguments on Wednesday.
Taking note of this, the bench observed that the matter has been pending for a long time and unwarranted adjournments would not be appropriate.
It directed that if the state or the housing body fails to advance arguments on the next date, they may file written submissions instead.
According to the petitions, the land acquisition in Ayodhya is being carried out under the Uttar Pradesh Awas Evam Vikas Parishad Act 1965, which provides that acquisition-related benefits should align with the more beneficial provisions available under law.
The petitioners argued that the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 offers significantly higher compensation and additional safeguards such as rehabilitation, resettlement and social impact assessment.
The petitioners contended that proceeding under the 1965 Act would deprive landowners and farmers of these enhanced benefits and result in acquisition at throwaway prices.
After hearing the parties, the court observed prima facie that acquisition under the 1965 Act appeared less beneficial compared to the 2013 law.
In view of this, the bench deemed it appropriate to stay the acquisition process initiated under notifications issued in 2020 and thereafter.
