Global City project: Haryana seeks vacation of high court stay

The Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) has filed applications before the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking a vacation of the stay on land parcels in Gurugram on which the 1,000 acre Global City project is proposed to come up.

The lifting of the high court stay order will be crucial in making the land encumbrance-free and available for the launch.

The HSIIDC was caught on the wrong foot last month, when soon after its UAE marketing trip, it woke up to the reality that acquiring the 1,000 acres earmarked for the project was going to be a challenge as there are three separate writ petitions pertaining to this land before the high court. Subsequently, two HSIIDC officials – a general manager and a manager looking after legal matters- were placed under suspension by the managing director for not doing due diligence in apprising the state government about the litigation on the land.

The board of directors of the HSIIDC in a recent meeting decided that sites for the Global City project will now be floated and put up for e-auction after the vacation of status quo orders by the high court.

Three writ petitions filed by former Congress (now BJP) leader Kuldeep Bishnoi; Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader Ajay Chautala, father of Haryana deputy CM Dushyant Chautala who holds the industries and commerce portfolio; and gram panchayat of Gharauli Khurd had challenged the acquisition of the land, which was initially proposed to be utilized for a joint venture special economic zone by HSIIDC and Reliance Ventures Ltd.

The acquisition was challenged alleging that 1,383 acres which was acquired by the state for public purpose was transferred to a joint venture company, M/s Reliance Haryana SEZ Ltd (RHSL), and therefore the acquisition is illegal.

Since certain petitions were filed by land owners seeking relief under section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, the three petitions were tagged with them.

As the issues with regards to the interpretation of section 24(2) of RFCTLARR Act were pending before the Supreme Court, the HC in 2016 adjourned these cases sine die till the Supreme Court decision comes and directed the parties to maintain status quo until then.

Cases listed before HC in December, January

The HSIIDC has now filed applications in the high court seeking vacation of stay stating that land transferred to RHSL has been reverted to the HSIIDC. The SEZ project was shelved in 2014 and a conveyance deed of the land was executed in favour of HSIIDC on August 29, 2014, by RHSL for reversion of land to HSIIDC.

The applications for vacation of stay filed by the HSIIDC in the Kuldeep Bishnoi and Gharauli Khurd gram panchayat case are listed for December 13 this year, while the Ajay Chautala petition will come up for hearing on January 6. 2023.

Launch plan for the project

The Global City, a mixed land use township in Gurugram, will be developed on about 1,000 acres to redefine the concept of urban development and what cities of the future shall look like through its sustainability-focused infrastructure planning and design. The HSIIDC initially plans to launch about 199 acres in four land parcels of different sizes and put them up for e-auction — 50.32 acres, 23.76 acres, 40.23 acres, 27.07 acres and 58.11 acres.