Allahabad High Court
AMIT MISHRAversusUNION OF INDIA AND 9 OTHERS
- Decided
Holding
The petition is dismissed as the petitioner lacks locus standi and the matter must be pursued before the statutory LARRA forum.
Summary
The petitioner, General Secretary of the NUPPL Contract Workers Union, filed a public interest litigation seeking financial assistance and employment for residents of eight villages affected by land acquisition for NUPPL. The respondents argued that the issues of compensation, rehabilitation, and resettlement fall under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and are pending before the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement Authority (LARRA) in Kanpur. The court noted that most landowners have already received compensation and that the petitioner lacks locus standi to represent those who have not objected. It further held that the petition does not raise any public interest matter. Consequently, the court dismissed the petition.
Issues considered
- Does the petitioner have locus standi to file a PIL on behalf of the affected landowners?
- Should the grievance be addressed by the statutory forum (LARRA) rather than by a PIL?
- Is there any public interest justification for the petition?
Legislation cited
Subjects
- public interest litigation
- locus standi
- land acquisition
- rehabilitation and resettlement
- compensation
- statutory forum
- Trade Union
Judgment
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION (PIL) No. - 494 of 2026
Amit Mishra
.....Petitioner(s)
Versus
Union of India and 9 others
.....Respondent(s)
Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Pavan Kumar, Laxami Pati
Counsel for Respondent(s) : A.S.G.I., Himanshu Pandey, A.K.
Goyal (A.C.S.C.), Abhishek Srivastava,
Gaurav Bishan
Chief Justice's Court
HON'BLE ARUN BHANSALI, CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE KSHITIJ SHAILENDRA, J.
1. This petition, purportedly in public interest, has been filed by the
petitioner inter alia seeking direction to the respondents to provide
financial assistance equivalent to 625 days of minimum wages to eligible
residents of the eight affected villages in terms of the Land Acquisition
Policy dated 02.06.2011 and directing the respondents employment of one
eligible member of each family rendered landless due to land transfer for
establishment of NUPPL, commensurate with qualification and further
reliefs.
2. It is inter alia claimed that the petitioner, during construction of
NUPPL, formed NUPPL Contract Workers Union, joined as a social
worker under the Trade Unions Act, 1926 and is discharging his duties as
General Secretary, based on which, it is claimed that the petition has been
filed in public interest.
3. The respondents have produced instructions inter alia indicating that
the entire issue in the petition pertains to compensation, rehabilitation &
resettlement benefits, valuation and alleged entitlement under the
Government Orders, which falls squarely under the Land Acquisition Act,
1894 and is subject to adjudication before the Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation & Resettlement Authority ('LARRA'), Kanpur Nagar. It is
indicated that out of 1032 landowners, 78 landowners have sought
reference before the Collector and the same stood referred to LARRA for
adjudication and are pending consideration.
WPIL No. 494 of 2026
2
4. Further indications have been made that the majority of landowners
have voluntarily entered into consent agreements, and have received
compensation under the R&R benefits and the petitioner therefore, has no
locus standi seeking to question the settlement between the NUPPL and
the landowners, based on the policy in question.
5. Copy of the instructions was supplied to the counsel for the petitioner.
6. Today, counsel for the petitioner prays for time for the purpose of
seeking further instructions in the matter regarding the status and the
stage of the proceedings pending before the LARRA Court.
7. Filing of the present petition at the instance of the petitioner, who
admittedly is General Secretary of NUPPL Contract Workers Union, in
light of the fact that those affected by the acquisition and aggrieved have
already approached the statutory forum i.e. LARRA Court for their
grievances, seeking to raise issues on behalf of those who have not
objected to the receipt of the compensation etc., cannot be countenanced.
8. We do not find any public interest involved in the matter at the instance
of the petitioner. The petition is therefore, dismissed.
(Kshitij Shailendra, J) (Arun Bhansali, CJ)
May 5, 2026
AHA/Jyotsana
Digitally signed by :-
AFZAL HUSAIN ABBASI
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
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