Gujarat High Court

In a jolt to Adani’s land acquisition in the state, the Gujarat High Court on July 5 quashed the state government’s decision to allot 231 acres of gauchar (common grazing land) in Navinal village of Kutch’s Mundra to Adani for its Adani Port and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) project.

The high court bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi, in a strongly worded order, expressed its displeasure with the state government and Kutch Collector Amit Arora’s decision to hand over the gauchar land to the Adani Group, terming it “illegal” and “unjust”. The court also directed the state government to take immediate steps to restore the land to its original status as gauchar land.

The court’s order is a major setback to the Adani Group, who, as stated in the court, had already invested in the project and had even begun construction activities on the land.

However, the HC made it clear to the Adani group that “when the government has decided to take back the land and give it to the villagers, your point is irrelevant at this stage. If you want to challenge the government’s resolution, you may do so through a separate writ petition”.

The high court, in its earlier hearings, had expressed serious concerns about the land acquisition and had even issued a stay order on construction activities on the site. It stated, “How can you give away the village’s gauchar land for another purpose? Even if you give it away, you should make alternative gauchar land available.”

Following the reprimand in the previous hearings, the Kutch Collector submitted an affidavit in the high court stating that there are 732 cattle in Navinal village and they require 320 acres of gauchar land.

The affidavit further stated that it was decided to take back a total of 231 acres of land from Adani Group, including 108 acres of gauchar land, allotted in 2005. A proposal to take back this land was sent to the state government on July 1.

The government also approved the proposal on July 4 after further consideration, and the decision to restore this land as gauchar has been undertaken by the Provincial Officer at Mundra.