Front Page

SC quashes gift of land to Bhondsi ashram

By T. Padmanabha Rao

NEW DELHI APRIL 19. Holding that the resolutions of the Bhondsi gram panchayat, Haryana, to gift about 51 acres of land to a trust headed by the former Prime Minister, Chandra Shekhar, as also the subsequent State Government's approval and ultimate gift deeds in its favour are `void-ab-initio' being contrary to the mandatory provisions of the relevant Act and Rules, the Supreme Court directed "the delivery of possession of the land to the gram panchayat in the manner specified in this judgment''.

Delivering the judgment on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition from B. L. Wadhera, an advocate, Justice R. P. Sethi directed the Bharat Yatra Kendra Trust (Respondent No.7) to pay costs of Rs.25,000. The Bench which included Justice K. G. Balakrishnan further said: "such costs shall, initially, be paid by the State Government and later recovered from the amount found payable as compensation to the respondent No.7'' and "out of the costs recovered, a sum of Rs.20,000 shall be paid to U. U. Lalit, the learned amicus curiae, who has very ably assisted the Court in the disposal of this petition and the balance Rs.5,000 shall be payable to the petitioner.''

Commenting on the relative roles of Mr. Chandra Shekhar, the gram panchayat and the Haryana Government in this regard, the Bench said, "the manner in which the gram panchayat and the State Government have dealt with the matter shows that they were overshadowed by the towering political personality of Mr. Chandra Shekhar, chairman of respondent No.7''.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Decision left to Dy. Speaker as deadlock continues
• Indian mission staffer assaulted in Pakistan
• More minority students appear for exams
• SC: Why not supplementary exams?
• SC quashes gift of land to Bhondsi ashram
• `Jayalalithaa did not make the demand'
• Israel pulling out of Jenin
• Geelani under house arrest
• Sanjay can go abroad
• 'Milan crash a suicide'
• Vessel rescued

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu