The Supreme Court has upheld the Gujarat Government’s decision to allocate 1,000 acres of pastoral land in Mundra for development of a special economic zone (SEZ) by Adani Port. It dismissed a special leave petition challenging the allocation on grounds of lack of merit.
A division bench comprising Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Dipak Misra dismissed the petition filed by residents of Zarpara village and a few members of its Gram Panchayat and refused to overrule the Gujarat High Court’s judgement dated June 22, 2011.
The Bench observed that the Gujarat Government was statutorily empowered to allocate the land and declined the petitioner’s request for allocation of an alternate 1,000-acre pastoral wasteland to the Zarpara Panchayat.
The Adani group, with group revenues of over $8 billion for financial year 2012, is a global integrated infrastructure player with businesses in resources, logistics and energy.
The Gujarat Government had allotted 1,000 acres of pastoral land at Zarpara to Adani Port and SEZ in 2007. However, this allocation was later challenged in the Gujarat High Court via several public interest litigations, which were dismissed on June 22, 2011.
The petitioners then approached the Supreme Court alleging that land allotment was illegal and arbitrary and had disturbed the ratio of cattle to pastoral land in the village as prescribed by the State Government.
Adani Ports contested the allegations. The company also submitted before the apex court that it had paid the price of the land at the rate of 130 per cent of the prevailing market value, including a 30 per cent premium.