A day after the Mayawati government cancelled the land allotment for a railway project in Sonia Gandhi’s constituency Rae Bareli, the Allahabad High Court today ordered a virtual stay on the controversial decision.
“Both parties shall maintain status quo over the land in question,” Justices Pradip Kant and Said-ul-Hasan of the court's Lucknow Bench observed while hearing a petition filed by the railway ministry, challenging the UP government's decision to cancel the allotment of land.
The court passed the order after the state government's counsel, L P Mishra, gave an undertaking that the possession of 189.25 hectare of land for a rail coach factory shall not be taken back by the UP government, nor shall it be alloted to anyone else.
Hearing a petition of the railway ministry, the Court directed the state government to file a counter-affidavit in a week's time. The next date of hearing has been fixed on October 22.
The petitioners had challenged the UP government order cancelling the land allotment on the basis of an October 10 report of the Rae Bareli District Magistrate apprehending law and order problems in case the possession of land was handed over to the Railways for the project.
Gandhi and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad were to participate in a function in Rae Bareli tomorrow for laying the foundation stone for setting up of a rail coach factory in Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency.
Congress leaders in Delhi said Gandhi would go ahead with her visit to Rae Bareli tomorrow.
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Arguing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General Ashok Nigam submitted that the Railways had paid Rs 9 crore to the state government as land value and even the mutation of the land in question had been carried out. He said the Railways had also spent another Rs 15 crore for initiation of work for establishment of the coach factory.
All of a sudden, on the basis of the district magistrate's report, the state government decided to cancel the allotment of the land, he said adding that thousands of people would get employment if the factory was set up.