ગુજરાતી
English
July 2024 Google translation from Gujarati
In the year 2005, about 2,600 acres of land of 17 out of 22 villages was given to Adani SEZ. At first the villagers did not know, but when they came to know, people started challenging it.
After 13 years, the people of Navinal village near Mundra in Kutch, Gujarat got victory against Adani. The Gujarat High Court ordered the return of 131 hectares of land given by the state government to Adani Ports Company for Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to the villagers.
However, the celebration of the victory of the villagers has ended in just five days. Adani Ports has challenged this order of the High Court in the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of the High Court order on July 10.
However, this order of the Gujarat High Court was challenged by Adani in the Supreme Court. On July 10, 2024, a bench of Supreme Court Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Vishwanathan stayed the order of the Gujarat High Court. Also, a reply has been sought from the Gujarat High Court in this regard.
Faqir Mohammad Sameja, a petitioner in the Gujarat High Court and a resident of Navinal village and former deputy sarpanch, has been fighting a legal battle for 13 years to get back the Gauchar land of his village allotted for the Adani SEZ area.
In 2005, Adani Ports was allotted Gauchar land in Navinal village of Mundra. This land was notified as a Special Economic Zone area.
It has a population of 2,000 people and about 1,500 cows. Apart from this, there are also sheep and goats. According to the rules of the state government, a village should have 40 acres of Gauchar land for 100 cattle. There is no Gauchar land in the village.
Adani company started fencing barbed wire around the land in the year 2010. At that time we started a struggle here at the local level, but when we did not get any result, we went to the Gujarat High Court in the year 2011. Filed a petition for return of Gauchar land. Regarding which the government had earlier promised to give land for Gauchar in 2014. However, it was not given by the government till 2024.
Then sought justice in Gujarat High Court, but did not get the land.
The court asked the government to give the land. In which on July 4, 2024, the collector decided to cancel the proposal of the land given to the company and return the Gauchar land to the villagers. An order has been given to return 131 hectares of land.
There are also about 1 thousand sheep and goats here. They do not even have any grazing land. This is a question of livelihood. We have been fighting for our rights for more than 15 years.
The government gave the village’s grazing land to the company without informing us. Although there was limited land in our village, the land was still given to the companies. Where there was little grazing, trees have been planted in the name of purifying the environment. Due to which there is no land left for grazing animals.
The former sarpanch of Naveenal village was Natubhai Jadeja. He was sarpanch from 2002 to 2012. In the year 2017, he lost the election due to the rumor of the sarpanch being a supporter of the company. He always remained with the villagers.
Gujarat High Court lawyer Anand Vardhan Yagnik is contesting the election. According to him, as soon as the villagers came to know about this acquisition, they joined the struggle.
It is one of the 22 villages coming under the Adani SEZ area. The land settlement of Gauchar was challenged in the Gujarat High Court in 2011. The people of the village said that we need 200 to 300 acres of land. 40 acres of land has been kept.
In 2013, the Gujarat government had decided that 231 acres of land was given but we are returning more than 1331 acres of land. Then in 2014, the Gujarat government filed a review petition in the court and said, ‘Sorry, we do not have 1331 acres of land. We have only 8 acres of land to give, so we withdraw our decision.’ The Gujarat High Court accepted the review petition. Then it went to the Supreme Court and said that the Gujarat High Court should take this entire matter into consideration and take its final decision on the basis of merits.’
Yagnik further explains, ”In the year 2024, we went before the bench of Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi. The Gujarat High Court said that the government does not own the Gauchar land, but the people are the owners of it.
In the year 2005, you had to give the land to the people, instead you sold it. You will have to return the land given to Adani SEZ. Otherwise we will have to order. Then the government considered giving land 7 km away from the village, but the villagers opposed it. It was said in the court that cattle should not be grazed 7 km away. The Gujarat High Court upheld his statement. The government was told to give Gauchar land to the people of the same village and if there is no land, then the land given to Adani should be taken back and given to the villagers.
As per the order dated 19 April 2024, keeping in mind the current number of cattle, we transfer the land given to Adani SEZ in the year 2005 and 282 acres of land between Adani and us to Navinal village in the name of Gauchar.
In this regard, the Adani Group lodged a protest in the court and said that the land given to us cannot be taken back without acquisition. In which the Gujarat High Court said that if you want to challenge this order, you can do so independently. The Gujarat High Court told the Gujarat government that you have decided to give the land and implement it. Because until the village people do not get their grazing land back
Until the land is allotted, it has no meaning.
The land was acquired by Adani SEZ after following the standard procedure by calculating 100 per cent market value and paying a 30 per cent premium over it. In 2011, some residents of Navinal village in the Gujarat High Court sought a writ against the Gujarat government’s decision to allot this land in Mundra’s Navinal village to Adani Ports. The matter was pending in the Gujarat High Court since 2011.
After 18 years of land allotment, suddenly the Gujarat government decided to take back more than 108 hectares of land allotted to Adani Ports in 2005 without confirming the legal and actual status of the land. This order was issued on 4 July 2024.
In this regard, on 5 July 2024, the Gujarat High Court issued an urgent order ordering the state government to take back the allotted land. Adani Ports has appealed to the Supreme Court against this order of the High Court. In compliance with which, the Supreme Court has now suspended this order of the Gujarat High Court. The company announced this.
The ACS informed the High Court bench about the state government’s decision to take back about 108 hectares i.e. 266 acres of Gauchar land. The Revenue Department told the court that the state government will develop a total of 129 hectares of land as Gauchar and hand it back to the village. Adani will acquire 108 hectares of land from the ports and add 21 hectares more land. The High Court directed the state government to implement this proposal. This decision of the Gujarat government has been challenged by Adani Ports in the Supreme Court. (Google translation from Gujarati, there is every possibility of error, see Gujarati on the dispute)
