Click to play videoLucknow: The Centre and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad scored a point on Monday when the Lucknow High Court put on hold the UP Government’s decision to withdraw land given for a coach factory in Rae Bareily district.
The factory is slated to come up on 1,200 acres of land in Lalganj town of Rae Bareily, Congress president Sonia Gandhi's constituency, at a cost of Rs 2,200 crore.
Chief Minister Mayawati’s government on Saturday withdrew the 400 acres it had given for the proposed factory. The UP Government announced the decision just before Gandhi's visit to her constituency on Tuesday.
The Northern Railways (NR) on Monday moved the high court seeking a stay on the Uttar Pradesh government's decision.
A high court bench comprising Justices Pradeep Kant and Subeeh-ul-Hasnain passed the interim order on two writ petitions filed on behalf of the farmers of Ahar village in Rae Bareli district.
"Both parties shall maintain status quo over the land in question regarding possession," said the court. It also directed the state government to file a counter-affidavit in a week's time.
Villagers and farmers of Lalganj town have also filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court against the order.
"The villagers were protesting the government's move since the order was received by the local administration. Besides, the railways has also filed a stay in the Lucknow bench," state Congress spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh told IANS.
Defending its decision to cancel the land allotment, government officials said the step was taken after the local administration informed them about the `explosive situation" developing in the area.
"The decision was taken after a report from Rae Bareli District Magistrate Santosh Kumar mentioned the state of unrest amongst local villagers (against land acquisition for the project)," Vijay Shanker Pandey, principal secretary to the chief minister, told reporters Sunday.
"It was also suspected that they could take extreme steps such as suicide if the land is not returned," he said.
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