NOIDA: Days after the Allahabad High Court orders which increased land compensation and other benefits against the land acquired for development in the past, the farmers are demanding resolution of their long pending cases.
Intervening in the long-running land acquisition disputes in Gautam Budh Nagar, the high court criticised the Noida authority for lapses in its legal representation, and Justice Sandeep Jain, who heard all the cases, emphasised that farmers whose lands were acquired under the same notifications must be compensated fairly and on equal terms, ensuring parity and consistency across all cases pending before the court.
Farmers in Noida on Sunday demanded implementing the recent Allahabad High Court orders, which increased land compensation and other benefits against their land acquired for the development in the past.
To be sure, the agricultural land has been acquired for the planned development since 1976 in Noida, and some farmers had opposed the land compensation on multiple grounds including increase in compensation, more residential plots and other benefits.
“We demand that the authorities must implement these orders without delay. We have been demanding hiked 64.7% land compensation and 10% of total land acquired for residential usage of our families. We protested many times. Now since the court has done justice, the authorities should not delay in implementing the orders. We have already suffered a lot,” said a farmers’ group Bharatiya Kisan Ekta Parishad leader Prempal Chauhan.
The first court order came on August 18, allowing landowners from Noida’s village Illabas to pursue delayed objections. The farmers had filed their claims in 2013, more than six years late, after learning that others had already secured higher compensation of ₹297 per square yard.
The court observed the objections were technically pending but had not been heard earlier due to a court fee shortfall, which was only corrected last December. With connected cases already decided in favour of farmers, the court condoned the delay and fixed August 19 for hearing.
On August 19, the court addressed an extraordinary appeal filed nearly 24 years late. The farmer, Chailla Ram, said he was unaware of his right to challenge the award. He pointed out that other landowners had already been awarded compensation of ₹150 per square metre, a rate upheld by the Supreme Court.
With no objections filed by either the State or the Noida authority, the court condoned the delay, ordering registration of the appeal, and listed it for September 12.
At the same time, the judge strongly criticised the authority’s counsel for failing to appear or respond despite being served notice, calling the conduct “gross negligence.”
The high court also handed down two compensation rulings in favour of Illabas farmers. On August 21, it revised the valuation of their land from ₹71 per square yard —fixed by the District Judge in 2003—to ₹340 per square yard plus statutory benefits.
On August 23, another Illabas farmer, Jai Singh, whose case was pending, got the same rate of ₹340 per square yard for his land acquired for the development of industrial areas in sectors 80 and 81. His appeal had been dismissed back in 2004 and was revived only in 2021. But the court still extended the benefit of the earlier ruling, again withholding interest for the years when the case was inactive.
Noida authority chief executive officer Lokesh M, meanwhile, said that they will comment on the issue once the certified copy reaches to them.