Builders who bought Gurugram land had no experience: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: In unravelling the land acquisition fraud committed by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government to benefit builders, the Supreme Court recorded startling facts - a novice builder acquired vast tracts in Manesar and adjoining land in Gurugram at Rs 25-80 lakh an acre and later sold it to DLF Home Developers for Rs 4.5 crore per acre.
"The lands which were purchased for a price ranging from Rs 25 lakh per acre soon after the initiation of acquisition, whose price rose to Rs 80 lakh per acre just before dropping of acquisition, were finally purchased by DLF Home Developers Ltd at the rate of Rs 4.5 crore per acre.Further, the fact that settlement money at the rate of Rs 3.5 crore per acre was made over to entities which apparently had done nothing in the matter is quite shocking," a bench of Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit said.
"Neither had these entities procured the lands from the original landholders nor were they ultimate developers who wanted to develop the property. Such entities can certainly be termed as 'middlemen' who walked away with huge sum of money or benefit at the rate of Rs 3.5 crore per acre. Was that a mere bonanza or a deal denoting quid pro quo?" it asked.
Criticising the builder-government nexus, the bench said, "In terms of relevant policy under the Haryana Act, no licence could be issued in case any purchase of land was made after the initiation of acquisition. Yet, the concerned authorities not only entertained such applications for licence, but pendency of such applications was taken as a factor for withdrawal from acquisition. Something which ought to have been rejected and discarded outright, became the foundation for decision in favour of builders/private entities."
The bench said builders, who purchased agricultural land after the state published a notification expressing its intention to acquire land in Manesar, Lakhounla and Naurangpur, were aware that the acquisition proceedings would be scrapped in the future.
"Although the relevant policies did not permit anyone who purchased the concerned lands after initiation of acquisition to prefer an application for licence, the builders/private entities merrily went about purchasing the interest of concerned landholders after such initiation. Most of these companies were incorporated after the acquisition was initiated and had no experience," it said.