SC relief to top IT companies in Gurgaon

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court hasstayed a Punjab and Haryana High Court order that had ordered demolition ofskyscrapers in Sector 30 of Gurgaon, which houses offices of 30 top ITcompanies.The HC had reopened a 22-year-old land acquisition case and found that the area, originally acquired by Haryana government for Special Economic Zone by DLF, had been operationalised as an IT hub. The HC had asked the state government to restore the land to the original shape.The SEZ, owned by DLF Limited and operational since 2006, was spread across 30 acres of prime land. Hearing a PIL filed by Gurgaon farmers, the HC faulted the state government for acquiring 210.38 acres in village Silokhera for residential purpose and later giving it to DLF to set up an IT hub there.The HChad directed the state to demolish all existing structures on the 30-acre areawithin six weeks and revert to an agreement of October 13, 1997 signed with EastIndia Hotels (EIH) for construction of a hospital at the site inquestion.Both the Haryana government and DLF moved the SupremeCourt. Appearing for the state, attorney general G E Vahanvati argued before avacation bench comprising Justices P Sathasivam and A K Patnaik that the HCorder would result in extensive loss to the exchequer since SEZ was fullyfunctional from the site.Rs 1,000 crore had already been investedfor the project and thousands of persons would be deprived of employment, thestate claimed. In addition, it would have the effect of interfering withexecutive policy making function to set up SEZ, Vahanvati added.Thebench issued notice to the farmers who had petitioned the HC and stayedoperation of the HC order.DLF had purchased the land from EIH onFebruary 18, 2005, for Rs 110 crore. By a separate agreement on August 22, 2006,EIH sold an additional 7.2 acres in Silokhera village to DLF subsidiaryChandrajyoti Estate Developers Limited for Rs 14.37 crore.