SC asks Haryana for status of land allotted to aborted RIL SEZ

The Supreme Court, during the crucial final hearing on petitions challenging the validity of Haryana's special economic zone (SEZ) policy, on Thursday asked the state to file the latest status report on 1,383 acres in Gurgaon land allocated to Reliance Industries Ltd, which has now withdrawn from the Reliance-Haryana SEZ project, and posted the matter for hearing on 13 February.

A bench of Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam and Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Shiva Kirti Singh asked Haryana to file the report after it observed that Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation had not even filed its response to the public interest litigation (PIL) by Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) leader Kuldip Bishnoi, who had challenged the central as well as the Haryana SEZ Act.

Bishnoi is a son of former Haryana chief minister, the late Bhajan Lal. The court order came when senior counsel Amarender Saran informed it that RIL had withdrawn from the project, and the 1,383 acres for the proposed SEZ had been returned to the state government. The centre had given an in-principle approval to the SEZ on 6 June 2006, and it was notified on 11 November 2007.

By allocating the land, Haryana had picked up a 30-per cent stake in the SEZ, which then came to be known as Reliance-Haryana SEZ. The allotment was made from about 12,000 acres acquired by the state government in Gurgaon in 2003.

Reliance, however, offered to return the land on 17 January 2012, and it was de-notified on 12 June 2013. 

Apart from challenging the land's transfer, Kuldip Bishnoi contended that it was part of a green belt, and could not be used for any other purpose.  Haryana said that by the subsequent NCR regional plans, the land use had been changed and it could now be used for industries.

Seven years after the first plea was made, the Supreme Court had commenced the final hearing on Wednesday on a bunch of petitions challenging the validity of the SEZ policy of the Centre and the laws governing it for acquisition of land in the country.

The apex court will examine the contentions and counter-arguments raised by farmers, politicians and big corporates on the issue of controversial land acquisitions in different parts of the country to set up SEZs.  All the petitions filed across the country since 2006 on the issue of SEZ Act, 2005 have been clubbed.

The allocation of land by state governments, including to Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries in Punjab and Haryana and Anil Ambani-run Reliance Energy in Uttar Pradesh, for developing SEZs are under scrutiny.

The petitioners, including farmers group from different states, have submitted that governments should be prohibited from allowing use of agricultural land for purposes other than crop cultivation and contended acquisition of land for business growth of private companies by the government was illegal.

Big business houses, which have been allocated land for SEZ development, have opposed the pleas.