Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Sept 2: High Court directed the Government to maintain “status quo” on acquisition of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) land at Rambagh.
A Division Bench of High Court comprising Chief Justice M M Kumar and Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur set aside the Single Bench order which had rejected an application of BSNL seeking stay on the Government’s move to dispossess it from the land.
The court admitted the appeal submitted by the BSNL counsel and set aside the order dated 25 May 2013.
“The status quo shall be maintained on the land till the petition is considered and decided finally by the writ court, preferably within a period of two months from the date of judgment,” the court directed.
“However, we wish to make it clear that any observation made in the preceding direction shall not be construed as an expression of final opinion on the issue raised before the writ court. These are our prima fascia impressions. The writ court should proceed to consider the controversy on its own merit without being influenced by any observation made here,” the court observed.
For the construction of flyover from Jahangir Chowk to Rambagh, the State Government had issued notice to the BSNL authorities under Land Acquisition Act in 2010 to handover them the land for rehabilitation of the shopkeepers who were displaced due to extension of the road.
But the BSNL had challenged the Government’s order in the court, arguing through its counsel, Nazir Ahmad Beig, that the land under occupation of the Central Government Departments or corporations cannot be transferred to the State as per the Land Acquisition Act.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel