WPPIL/30/2023
2023 Latest Caselaw 652 UK

      IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND
                  AT NAINITAL

         THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE SRI VIPIN SANGHI
                                AND
             THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE ALOK KUMAR VERMA


               WRIT PETITION (PIL) NO. 30 OF 2023

                             16TH MARCH, 2023

Between:

Manoj Panwar                                 ......          Petitioner

and

State of Uttarakhand & others                ......         Respondents


Counsel for the petitioner        :   Ms. Shruti Bisht and Mr. Karan
                                      Singh Dugtal, learned counsels

Counsel for the respondents       :   Mr.   Amrendra     Pratap   Singh,
                                      learned     Additional    Advocate
                                      General for State of Uttarakhand /
                                      respondent Nos. 1 and 2

                                  :   Mr. Vinay Kumar, learned counsel
                                      for respondent No. 3


The Court made the following:

JUDGMENT: (per Hon'ble The Chief Justice Sri Vipin Sanghi)


             The petitioner, who claims to be a social

worker, has filed the present petition claiming the same

to have been filed in public interest. He states that he is

not personally interest in the subject matter of the

present petition.        The petitioner, in this petition, has

claimed that the lands belonging to the villagers of

several villages have been illegally acquired for the

development of the Lakhwar-Biyasi Dam.
                                  2




2)          The petitioner seeks the relief that the lands of

the villagers should be acquired afresh under the Right

to   Fair     Compensation       and    Transparency        in    Land

Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

Other related reliefs have also been sought by the

petitioner.


3)          In our view, the present petition, as a public

interest    litigation,    is   not    maintainable,   since       the

petitioners whose lands are alleged to have been illegally

acquired can, and should, raise their grievance in their

own name by filing their own petition(s), if they have

any grievance in that regard.                 This Court cannot

presume       that   the   original    land   owners   have       any

outstanding      claims    or   grievance     in   regard    to    the

acquisition of their land.


4)          The contention of learned counsel for the

petitioner is that the land owners are poor, and they

cannot afford to file writ petitions.          We cannot accept

this submission.      The fact that they were land owners

itself negates this submission of learned counsel for the

petitioner.
                            3




5)        We, therefore, dismiss this petition, as not

maintainable, leaving it open to the aggrieved persons to

file their own petitions in their own names.



                                      ________________
                                      VIPIN SANGHI, C.J.


                                  _________________
                                 ALOK KUMAR VERMA, J.

Dt: 16th MARCH, 2023 Negi