Punjab & Haryana HC Dismisses Plea To Liberate School Land, Imposes 25K Cost

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rejected the plea seeking the release of the land taken by the state government for the growth of a ‘Mandi’ that was later used for establishing a school, observing that the public interest is served.

A division bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Lalit Batra stated, “The reason is but trite, and, simple, that since even a building subserves the educational pursuits of the school-going children, thereupon, concomitantly, public good and public purpose become subserved. Resultantly, this Court does not find that the raising of a school building on the subject land is a valid ground for this Court directing the respondents concerned to consider the release of the subject lands from acquisition.”

The petition was registered by Ashok Kumar Bansal, whose land was taken in 1978 by the Haryana Government, seeking orders to release it on the grounds that the property was not utilized for the progress of the Mandi, but instead, a school was constructed.

The Court observed that previously a “successor-in-interest” of the petitioner had filed a similar petition wherein the High Court observed, “The playground of a school satisfies the test of a public purpose as well.”

After looking at the submissions, the Court noted that “the said ground cannot be well canvassed by the petitioner before this Court thus as a sound, and the tangible premise for this Court becoming constrained to make an order of release of the subject lands”

Stating that there is no worth in the case, the Court imposed a cost of Rs. 25,000.

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