Aurangabad bench of Bombay high court
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Aurangabad bench of Bombay high court has pulled up Maharashtra govt for a nearly 30-year delay in paying compensation to farmers, whose lands were acquired in Beed, and has ordered a state-wide, mission-mode exercise to identify and clear similar pending cases related to land acquisition for public projects.
It ordered preparation of a district-wise “complete acquisition ledger” recording cases where possession was taken but compensation remains unpaid. The chief secretary has also been asked to examine responsibility for delays and initiate recovery of losses from negligent officers, where permissible. The HC retained supervisory jurisdiction and sought periodic compliance reports.
In the Beed case, the HC bench noted that though an award was finally declared in 2020 after earlier court intervention, Rs31.91 lakh remain unpaid as funds were not received from the acquiring department. The matter is scheduled for first compliance on March 10. The court directed payment with statutory interest within eight weeks and ordered the Beed collector to deposit Rs35 lakh in court within four weeks.