Allahabad HC Orders Land Restitution: Demolition Without Hearing Deemed Illegal | India

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In a significant verdict, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has ruled that the removal of a landowner's name from records and demolition of a structure on the land was unlawful. The court, led by Justice Alok Mathur, directed the rectification of records and ordered the land in question to be handed over to the petitioner, Savitri Sonkar. The court's decision was made on December 19 in response to a petition filed by Sonkar, who claimed that her land in Devnandanpur village, Raebareli district, was unfairly taken away without notice or a hearing. The petitioner's name was removed from the records on February 10, and the land was declared as Gram Sabha land. Following this, the structure on the land was demolished on March 24 and handed over to the GST department. The court found that the action taken by the SDM was illegal and arbitrary, as the petitioner was not given an opportunity to be heard. The court also stated that the demolition action did not follow the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court. The court has imposed a cost of ₹20 lakh on the state government and ordered the government to identify the officials responsible and take action against them. The state government was also directed to recover the costs paid to the petitioner from the concerned officials. The court has given the state government two months to pay the compensation to the petitioner. An inquiry into the role of the revenue officials will be conducted by an officer of the additional chief secretary level.