SC rejects plea against Reliance Power

Court questions motive of the group that filed petition against the company's land acquisition.

The Supreme Court today refused to hear a plea that sought quashing an Uttar Pradesh government notification allowing Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Power to acquire land for its proposed power project at Dadri.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan questioned the motive of Sahyog Samiti, which claimed to be an association of land owners and had filed the petition making Reliance one of the parties.

Sahyog Samiti had challenged the notification relating to acquisition of 903.449 hectares in seven villages of Ghaziabad district.

It also alleged that farmers were not adequately compensated for the land.

Appearing for Reliance, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, opposed the PIL and said it was politically motivated to harm the company that was coming out with its initial public offer.

"It is a Rs 10,000-crore power project at Dadri. This petition is aimed to hit me (Reliance Power) when we are planning to bring our IPO. My IPO is coming on January 15," Rohatgi contended before the Bench that also comprised Justices R V Raveendran and J M Panchal.

Reliance Power intends to raise almost $3 billion (Rs 11,850 crore) through the country's biggest initial public offer. The Bench directed the association to file details of the landowners whom it claimed to be representing.

"What cause you are promoting we don't know. It would have been fine if the landowners have approached us. You disclose us who are the land owners (represented by the association)," the bench said.

The association's counsel K T S Tulsi tried to convince the bench that there was no hidden motive behind the petition and it was not concerned about the IPO.

"Landowners cannot afford to approach the court individually so they have formed an association and it has filed the petition on their behalf," Tulsi said.

The Bench, however, refused to hear the plea of quashing the notification on land acquisition.

It restricted itself to association's prayer that sought a direction to declare certain provisions of Land Acquisition Act, pertaining to acquiring farm land for private firms, as unconstitutional.

Rohatgi did not object on the petition being heard on that aspect and said: "I have no problem with the petition if my name (Reliance) is deleted."

The Bench later issued notices to the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government and tagged it with a similar case pending in the court filed by farmers association of Karnataka.

WHOSE LAND IS IT ANYWAY?

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan questioned the motive of Sahyog Samiti, which claimed to be an association of land owners and had filed the petition making Reliance one of the parties

Sahyog Samiti had challenged the notification relating to acquisition of 903.449 hectare of land in seven villages of Ghaziabad district

The Bench restricted itself to association's prayer that sought a direction to declare certain provisions of Land Acquisition Act, pertaining to acquiring farm land for private firms, as unconstitutional.