Supreme Court upholds land acquisition for Yamuna Expressway

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the land acquisition proceedings initiated by the State of Uttar Pradesh under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (Act) for Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) project in Gautam Budh Nagar area of State [Kali Charan and Others v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Others]..A Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta approved the actions of the State to invoke the urgency clause under sections 17(1) and 17(4) of the 1894 Act for acquisition of land and depriving the landowners of their right to raise objections under Section 5A of the Act.The land was acquired in 2009 for the Expressway which connects Greater Noida with Agra. "The present acquisition forms part of the integrated development plan for the Yamuna Expressway initiated by YEIDA. The objective of the acquisition is to integrate land development with the Yamuna Expressway’s construction, thereby promoting overall growth serving the public interest. Consequently, the Expressway and the development of adjoining lands are considered to be inseparable components of the overall project. Yes, the invocation of Sections 17(1) and 17(4) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, was legal and justified in this case. The urgency clause was applied in accordance with the planned development of the Yamuna Expressway," the Court said..The Court was hearing a batch of 35 appeals filed by both the land owners and YEIDA. In their 29 appeals, the landowners had challenged the 2023 decision of the Allahabad High Court in Kamal Sharma v. State of Uttar Pradesh wherein the invocation of urgency clause was held to be justified for the acquisition proceedings considering the importance of project.On the other hand, YEIDA in their appeal had challenged a 2017 decision of the High Court in Shyoraj Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh wherein the acquisition proceedings were quashed in relation to the project on the ground that invocation of the urgency clause was arbitrary and bad in law..The top court approved the dictum in Kamal Sharma holding that since the Yamuna Expressway is a vital heartline providing access to millions of commuters from the National Capital Delhi to Agra, it would be unjustifiable to question the acquisition on lands on the ground that the project was not for integrated development."However, it cannot be gainsaid that Yamuna Expressway is a vital heartline providing access to millions of commuters from National Capital Delhi to Agra. The Expressway also connects the prestigious upcoming Jewar Airport to adjoining areas. To assume that the Yamuna Expressway is a simple highway without any scope for simultaneous development of the adjoining lands for commercial, residential and other such activities would be unconceivable. A project of such magnitude and enormity would definitely require the involvement of the adjoining areas which would lead to an overall development of the State of Uttar Pradesh at large," the Court observed rejecting landowners' objection to the acquisition proceedings in Gautam Budh Nagar.The Court also made it clear that the decision in Shyoraj Singh was per incuriam as the High Court did not considered its earlier decisions wherein the invocation of urgency clause had already been declared valid for the purpose of land acquisition for the integrated development plan of Yamuna Expressway.It also noted that appeal against those earlier decisions were already dismissed by the top court..Therefore, the top court upheld State's action of invoking urgency clause for land acquisition proceedings for Yamuna Expressway project. Accordingly, the appeals by YEIDA were allowed while the appeals by landowners were dismissed..[Read Judgment]