Rajasthan HC clears 24 pleas, offers two ways of compensation

JAIPUR: In a major relief to the government in the acquisition of land for the ambitious Ring Road project, which has faced several legal hurdles, the Rajasthan High Court today while partly allowing 24 petitions, ordered that the farmers whose land was acquired for the project but its possession was not taken by the government before the new land acquisition law came into force, could either opt for the prevailing market rate or 25% of the developed land. This they have to decide within 15 days. The other 66 petitions were dismissed.The single bench of Justice Bela M Tridevi thus cleared way for the project which was challenged by Virendra Singh and 85 others, who demanded that they be given compensation as per the provisions of the New Land Acquisition Act, which came in to force on January 2009.The court partly allowed those petitions whose land was acquired but the JDA did not take possession of the land before the new land acquisition law was notified. The other petitions were dismissed. The court said the matter had to be decided in the light of public interest regarding the project, wherein the government had already entered into various contracts with several companies worth hundreds of crores of rupees for the execution of the project.The court said it is not in the fitness of things to quash the acquisition proceedings at this stage and the 24 petitioners whose land the JDA took possession after the notification of the new land law would thus be eligible for opting for either prevailing market rate or 25% developed land as per the government notification earlier.The state government had issued notification for the Ring Road project connecting Agra and Ajmer road in July 2005, and acquired 1578.95 hectares of land in 47 villages. This would stop trucks on way to Ajmer and Agra from having to pass through or enter the city.Jaipur Outer Ring Road or ORR is a 150 kilometer, 6-lane Ring Road encircling the city of Jaipur connecting busy Agra and Ajmer roads built by JDA. The expressway is designed for speed up to 120 km/h. Construction of Ring Road around Jaipur was conceived by PWD in December 2000 on BOT basis.In Phase I & II, a road with a length of 47-km will be constructed in the south of Jaipur, connecting Ajmer road, Tonk road and Agra road. In Phase III, a road with a length of 97.75-km will be constructed in the northern part of Jaipur which will connect Agra road, Delhi road, Sikar road and Ajmer road.It will consist of a six-lane access controlled expressway; a three-lane service road on both sides; a 135 m R&R and an investors' development corridor on both sides. The road is envisaged as a toll-free and signal free expressway.