Land once acquired need not be returned to original owners: state

The affidavit filed by Kishore Agraharkar,special land acquisition officer,states that “lands once acquired for a public purpose cannot be returned to original owners.”

“As per Supreme Court judgment land once acquired for public purpose need not be given back. It’s upto the airport authorities to decide what to do with the land,” said assistant government pleader G W Mattos.

The legal heirs,reclaiming the two tracts of land measuring 12 acres,stated that the land will be used for rehabilitation of encroachers instead of expanding the RRS as revealed in an earlier affidavit filed by the authorities.

Petitioner Anwar Hajee Cassum Agboatwala and other legal heirs state that such a change of purpose is not permissible even if it is assumed it is for a public purpose.

The land in question,around 12 acres,belonged to original owner Alimohammed Agboatwala who died in 1946. His widow had then moved a suit for administration of all his estates—including the lands in question—subsequent to which a court receiver was appointed.

Later,the state government started acquiring these lands as well as some adjoining lands for setting up the RRS.

The petitioners’ state that the lands were handed over by the government to the airports authority in October 2007 with directions to remove encroachments from them within three months.

The petition states that two years have gone by but no action has been initiated by the AAI as there is no longer RRS expansion.

The petition also claims that even existing RRS has not been used by the airports authority for several years.

Agboatwala has urged the court to call for the records,set aside the acquisition proceedings and hand over the land back to the court receiver.