Clarify land pooling policy: HC to Punjab

The Punjab government on Wednesday submitted in the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the recently introduced Land Pooling Policy, 2025, would be kept on hold till the next date of hearing, i.e. Thursday.

The court was hearing a writ petition that challenged the Punjab government’s land pooling policy introduced in June this year.

The court asked the State government to clarify whether an Environmental Impact Assessment had been carried out before notifying the Land Pooling Policy, 2025. The court, in its interim order, directed the government to inform the court if there was any provision in the policy for the rehabilitation of the landless labourers and others who do not own any land but are dependent on the land for their sustenance.

Petitioner Gurdeep Singh Gill had submitted that the policy was notified without carrying out the necessary environmental and social impact assessment, which is an essential prerequisite for the acquisition of land under Sections 4 to 8 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

The petitioner, a resident of Phagla village in Ludhiana district, owns 6 acres of land, which was allotted to his father as a displaced person in lieu of their land in Lyallpur district in Pakistan.

The petitioner argued that they have invested and have made improvements to the land, which is now fertile but has been included in the policy. Mr. Gill also contended that there is no provision for providing compensation at the time of acquisition, and only an annual meagre livelihood allowance would be paid. 

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has hit out at the Opposition parties for spreading “misleading propaganda” against the State government’s policy, with party leaders describing it as “farmer-friendly”.

The Punjab Cabinet in June gave its nod to the policy and asserted that not a single yard will be forcibly acquired from the owners.