The Supreme Court intervened by halting the demolition of certain residential properties in Kartarpuri village, Gurugram. This action followed the landowners' challenge against the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s verdict, which denied their plea to reverse the acquisition of the land in question.

A Bench led by Justice AS Bopanna issued a notice to the State of Haryana based on a petition filed by Anil Suri and others. The directive stated, “During this period, any structures on the subject property should not be demolished, and the petitioners are restrained from making any enhancements or constructions on the property.” Additionally, the bench ordered the consolidation of this matter with a related case already pending before the court.

This marks the second instance where the apex court has issued such an order. Not long ago, it halted the demolition of properties in Sector 23 of Gurugram. This action ensued as landowners contested the High Court’s decision rejecting their plea to revoke the acquisition of their land. Furthermore, the court opted to scrutinize the landowners’ assertion under Section 101A of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act, 2013, as amended by the Haryana Legislative Assembly. This section pertains to the denotification of land acquisition in cases where the initially intended public purpose has become unfeasible or non-essential.

In the Kartarpuri case, the petitioners have contested the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s ruling on October 20, which dismissed their plea for the return of the land.

The petitioners, who acquired 16 kanals of land in Kartarpuri village, Gurugram, back in 1978, proceeded to build a house spanning an area of 10,500 square feet, where they have been residing.

 “The petitioners’ land is a tiny island completely surrounded by land of Usha Stud Land Agricultural Farms Pvt Ltd (66 acres) qua which acquisition stands quashed and the land has not been re-notified for acquisition, thereby making the entire public purpose for acquisition unviable or non-essential,” they submitted.

The state government initiated the acquisition process for 1,005.3 acres of land intended for residential and commercial development in Sectors 21, 22, 23, and 23A of Gurugram. Within this process, a declaration to acquire 260.18 acres of land in Kartarpuri village was made, disregarding the objections raised by the petitioners, as per their submission.