Guwahati: Landowners in South West Garo Hills are to receive compensation within three months for land acquired for the Indo-Bangladesh Border Fencing, following an order by the Meghalaya High Court.
The Court has asked the State and Union authorities to settle the issues that have delayed payment despite the preparation and approval of draft awards.
Justice B. Bhattacharjee said the government cannot take control of private land and leave the owners waiting for compensation for several years without a legally justified reason.
The Court said such a situation, where possession is taken but payment is kept pending without lawful grounds, can constitute an abuse of authority.
The petitioners’ land was acquired in 2017-18 for the border fencing project under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
The authorities completed and approved the draft awards in 2018, but the compensation due to the affected landowners was still not paid.
The delay continued despite representations made by the landowners, following which they filed a petition before the Meghalaya High Court seeking release of the pending compensation.
During the hearing, the Court found that the authorities had not made the payments even though the draft awards had been prepared several years earlier.
The Court also rejected administrative differences between the State and Union authorities as sufficient grounds for keeping the compensation pending for such a long period.
It said landowners should not be deprived of compensation for years after the government has taken possession of their property unless there is a valid legal basis for doing so.
The State and Union authorities have consequently been given three months to resolve the pending issues and pay the compensation to the affected landowners.