Distinction between ‘Pushtaini’ and ‘Gair-Pushtaini’ landholders is violative under Article 14 of the Indian Constitution: Supreme Court

On February 20, 2023, the Supreme Court bench heard Ramesh Chandra Sharma & Ors. vs. the State of Uttar Pradesh case related to the distinction between ‘Pushtaini’ and ‘Gair-Pushtaini’ landholders violating Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. The bench, Justice Krishna Murari and Justice S. Ravindra Bhat stated that “The ex- gratia payment and the increased base amount, as enunciated by the executive actions, must be given to all landowners in the subject area.” In addition, the Apex Court also highlighted that “The Land Acquisition Act does not distinguish between classes of owners, and uniformly provides compensation to all class landowners.” The Supreme Court bench then said that the distinction between both Pushtaini and Gair-Pushtaini landholders was violative not only under Article 14 but also according to the verdict in the Nagpur Trust Case.

In this case, the Uttar Pradesh Government by notification created the township of Greater Noida, in an area of 38000 hectares. Notifications were issued for the acquisition of a total area of 580.1734 hectares of land for plan development situate in different villages falling within the jurisdiction of G. Noida.  The said notifications were challenged before the High Court in a bunch of Writ Petitions challenging the acquisition proceedings based on arbitrarily invoking an urgency clause. The High Court concluded that the urgency clause was wrongly invoked whereas to compensate the landholders, the Full bench of the High Court directed an additional compensation to be paid to the landholders at the rate of 64.70% of the already paid compensation. 

In addition to this, a further direction was issued to allot developed Abadi land to the extent of 10% of their acquired land, subject to a cap of Rs.2,500/- square meter. It was identified that the Full Bench never made any distinction between ‘Pushtaini’ and ‘Gair-Pushtaini’ farmers for payment of the additional compensation or allotment of land. Two classes of landholders were carved out for payment of compensation and for those who were classified as ‘Pushtaini’ landholders, a higher amount of compensation was decided to be awarded to them in the name of their rehabilitation. The ‘Pushtaini’ landholders were paid compensation of Rs. 322 per sq. yard and the ‘Gair-Pushtaini’ landholders were paid compensation of Rs.280 per sq. yard. The State Government granted its approval for payment of enhanced compensation/ex-gratia/bonus to the ‘Pushtaini’ landholders. 

The case was further mentioned before the Supreme Court against the judgment and order passed by the Allahabad High Court. While giving the judgment, the Supreme Court bench stated that “The impugned notification that creates the classification, does not have a rational nexus to the object sought to be achieved, and thus, violates the first two prongs of the proportionality test.” Moreover, it was analyzed that the said notification creates disastrous mischief, and does nothing to remedy such potential abuse. Therefore, the impugned classification was liable to be struck down as violative of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. The judgment passed by the Full Bench of the High Court was not liable to be sustained and was set aside. The appeal was then allowed by a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court.