Land Acquisition act is a fraud, ought to be scrapped: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: Frowning at increasing incidents of government forcibly acquiring land for industrialisation and residential schemes, the Supreme Court today observed that the Land Acquisition Act ought to be scrapped as it is a "fraud" devised by some "sick people".

In a morale booster to the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat, the apex court complimented it for its land acquisition policy since there are "no complaints of any forcible acquisition" whereas issues of farmers and poor being uprooted are pouring in from all other states.

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and H L Dattu cautioned that if remedial measures are not initiated then in another five years muscle men would take over the private land and utter chaos would prevails as the prices of land are shooting up everywhere.

"The Act has become a fraud. It seems to have been devised by people with a sick mind who have scant regard for the welfare of the common man," Justice Singhvi heading the bench observed.

The apex court made the scathing observations while dealing with a bunch of petitions filed by aggrieved farmers from Uttar Pradesh's Hapur district on the forcible acquisition of 82 acres of land by the state for developing a leather industry.