NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday cancelled Haryana government’s auction of 350.7 acres of prime land in Gurgaon which real estate major DLF had bagged for Rs 1,703 crore.
A division bench headed by Justice Surya Kant cancelled the auction on technical grounds, which is not likely to bring any relief to the villagers who had challenged the government’s move to allow DLF to commercially exploit the land after having acquired it for recreational use.
In 2009, DLF, Unitech and Rajarhat IT Park Ltd had participated in the auction. However, the bids of Unitech and Rajarhat IT Park were cancelled as they failed to meet the minimum technical requirements like having developed and managed golf course in the past. That left DLF as the sole bidder. And it was on this ground that the high court struck down the auction.
The land lies between sectors 42-54 and 43-53 and is behind DLF Phase V. According to the bid condition, the auction-winner had to develop an 18-hole golf course along with low-rise residential units on the land.
A DLF spokesperson said, “DLF won this land in an international competitive bid conducted twice by the government of Haryana in 2009-10. As a copy of the order is awaited, we wish to clarify that it will have no bearing on any of our completed or ongoing projects. This land was to be developed in the future.” He added that after reading the order and taking legal advice, the company will take appropriate steps.
The land is considered prime because it lies on the Golf Course Road which commands the highest premium in Gurgaon. It was allotted to DLF after a bid of Rs 1,703 crore at Rs 12,000 per sq m. However, the petitioners alleged that the actual cost of the land is around Rs 40,000 crore.
While cancelling the allotment of land to DLF, the court directed the state government to complete the process of fresh allotment of the land through a global auction within one month. The court also permitted DLF to participate in the fresh auction.
A bunch of petitions had accused the state government of acquiring the land from farmers in Wazirabad village for ‘public purpose’ to develop a recreational project and later auctioning it for commercial activities. The bench, however, upheld the land acquisition process of the state government.
Of the 350.7 acre, only 38.47 acre was to be developed for residential purpose, 19.24 acre for commercial purpose, 20 acre for a sports complex while a golf course was to come up on the remaining land.
The land allotment was challenged by Om Prakash Mukadam and other residents of Wazirabad who argued that Haryana government had acquired the land only to benefit the real estate company. The petition submitted that the land could not be transferred to a private company for commercial activity because it was actually acquired for a public purpose.
TOI | Sep 4, 2014
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