The Hindu : Front Page : Court clears decks for Yamuna Expressway

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Thursday, Sep 09, 2010
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Court clears decks for Yamuna Expressway

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the decks for the Yamuna Expressway project to link Greater Noida with Agra by upholding the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to acquire 1,604 hectares of private land.

A Bench of Justices V.S. Sirpurkar and Cyriac Joseph dismissed the petitions filed by landowners who termed the acquisition a “colourable exercise of power” to benefit J.P. Infratech Ltd., a private company, and said there was no public purpose involved.

The Bench concurred with the Allahabad High Court's findings that the project would benefit millions of people, and this was paramount compared to the interests of a few aggrieved individuals whose shops, business establishments and houses would have to be demolished. The court said the government had ensured transparency in land acquisition and justified its decision to invoke the “urgency clause” under Sections 17(1) and 17(4) of the Land Acquisition Act. — PTI

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