The order was passed by a Division Bench comprising justices Sunil Ambawani and A N Mittal while allowing the writ petitions of Anup Rai and other residents of Atmaspur village in the district who had challenged the acquisition through two notifications issued in September, 2007 and December, 2010.
The petitioners had challenged the acquisition on the ground that urgency clause invoked by the government had deprived them of an opportunity to raise their objections as per the provisions of Land Acquisition Act though the land was not acquired for any urgent purpose but for constructing residential colonies.
Significantly, the previous Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh which was voted out of power in March this year, has repeatedly faced flak from the court because of its land acquisition policy and invoking of urgency clause.
Acquisition of thousands of hectares of land in districts like Gautam Buddh Nagar has been quashed vide a number of orders of the court.
