Why SC stayed HC’s order asking Gujarat govt to take back land allotted to Adani & restore to village | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court issued a stay on Wednesday against a Gujarat high court orderdirecting the state government to finalize the process of reclaiming approximately 108 hectares of grazing land allocated to an Adani Group subsidiary near Mundra port in 2005.
The court had asked the government on July 5 to restore the land to a Kutch village, almost 19 years afterit was allotted to Adani Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ).
“Issue notice. Stay of impugned order,” the bench comprising B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said adding that the order was required to be stayed in interest of justice.
“Taking note of the affidavit of the Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Revenue, State of Gujarat, we require the concerned authority/officers to complete the process of resumption in accordance with law,” the Gujarat HC had said on July 5.
In June 2005, parts of the grazing land from 16 villages, including Navinal village in Mundra taluka, Kutch, totaling 231 out of 276 acres, were allocated to APSEZ by the state government.
The residents of Navinal village felt the consequences in 2010 when APSEZ started to enclose the land with fences. A year later, Navinal’s villagers, along with other Mundra villages, approached the high court, arguing that they were left with only 45 acres, inadequate for their cattle needs.
Following the villagers’ plea, the state government pledged in 2014 to allocate 387 hectares of grazing land to Navinal. The commitment, however, was not fulfilled.
In 2015, the state government filed a petition for review in the high court, arguing that only 17 hectares of land were realistically available for allocation to the panchayat.
The state government later suggested allocating the remaining land, located approximately seven kilometers away. However, villagers objected, arguing it was impractical for their cattle to travel such a long distance.
On July 5, an affidavit was submitted informing the bench that the state government has opted to reclaim approximately 108 hectares or 266 acres of grazing land previously allocated to APSEZ.