Ghaziabad: A two-judge Allahabad high court bench has said land for the Harnandipuram township in Ghaziabad should not be acquired except in accordance with law.In an order dated Sept 30, Justices Kunal Ravi Singh and Siddhartha Varma noted that Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) was proceeding through mutual negotiation and its counsel had given a categorical undertaking. “We expect the land in question would not be acquired except in accordance with law,” the bench said.The order followed a petition filed in Sept by more than 160 landowners, who asked the court to direct GDA to acquire land through mutual negotiation at market value rather than take coercive action. They also sought protection against action for executing sale deeds on parcels proposed for acquisition.Petitioner Daksh Nagar said a 2016 govt order requires valuation at the circle rate or market rate, whichever is higher, and that the final rates should be four times that figure under the land acquisition law. He said the circle rate in the villages concerned is Rs 1,690 per square metre while the market rate is Rs 5,000-6,000 per sqm. “In such a scenario we stand to lose and the committee which decided on land rates obviously did not take into account the market rate,” Nagar said.A GDA official said land was being acquired by consent. “There is no pressure by the Authority for surrender of land in question, which is done as per 2016 GO,” the official said. “A six-member committee which includes DM, ADM (finance and revenue), GDA vice chairperson and secretary has already decided on it in accordance with the procedure.”The township was planned in 2024 to cover 521 hectares across eight villages, with costs shared by the state govt and GDA. After mutual consent proved slow, GDA moved to compulsory acquisition under the Land Acquisition (Rehabilitation & Resettlement) Act, 2013, which sets rates at four times the DM circle rate in rural areas and twice in urban clusters.In Feb 2025, citing high costs, the authority scaled down the project and dropped three villages, Shahpur Morta, Bhowapur and Morta, covering about 151 hectares. In Sept 2025, it asked the stamp department to freeze DM circle rates to contain its Rs 2,384 crore acquisition bill, a move landowners called “unjust and unconstitutional”. Many pointed out that land compensation rates stand at Rs 6,459 per sqm in Noida and Rs 6,415 per sqm in Greater Noida, or Rs 5,725 per sqm with a 6% developed plot.Officials said GDA now has to acquire 127 hectares of private land, the rest belonging to the Authority or the gram sabha. A total of 79 hectares has been acquired until Aug, with consent for another 130 hectares. The first phase covers a layout plan for 336 hectares in Mathurapur, Shamsher and Nangla Feroze Mohan Nagar. One estimate puts the cost at Rs 15,000 crore, much of it for land.
