“We Will Cancel All Your Freebie Schemes,” SC Blasts Maharashtra Government Over Inadequate Compensation To A Farmer Family

Reacting sharply to Maharashtra state government’s failure to award adequate compensation to a Pune-based farmer family, Supreme Court warned that it will order ceasing of all its popular schemes launched ahead of the state assembly elections.

In a hearing held on Wednesday (August 13) presided over by Justice KV Viswanathan and Justice Bhushan Gavai, the latter is reported to have said that the apex court might issue directives to the state administration to stop all of its ‘Ladki Bahin, Ladka Bhau Schemes’ if it did not award a ‘reasonable’ compensation to the affected party.

The matter currently in focus pertains to erroneous compensation by the state government to Bahirat family whose 24 acre land was acquired by it in 1963. The land parcel which is in Pashan, now an upscale suburb of the Pune city, was given by the state government to the Ministry of Defense for setting up Defence Institute of Advanced Technology.

In return, the state government awarded a land parcel of similar valuation to the affected farmer family then.

However, in 2004, the family members discovered that the compensatory land allocated to them by the state government was classified as a ‘protected forest land’ by the state’s Forest Department, meaning all constructions carried out by the family members on the land subsequently were illegal and could be ordered by the courts to be destroyed.

The senior counsel representing the state government in response said that the state was ready to award a monetary compensation of Rs 37.42 crore as a gesture of sympathy for the family. However, this was denied by the affected party as the current market valuation of their acquired land was much higher than the compensation offered by the state.

This is when Justice Gavai warned the state government through the senior counsel that it will order stoppage of all supposedly ‘welfare’ oriented schemes such as the Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana which entails a monthly aid of Rs 1,500 to all women in the state from Below Poverty Line families.

Notably, this is the second time Justice Gavai has expressed his displeasure against the state government.

In an earlier hearing pertaining to the same matter, the Supreme Court judge said that it was a wonder that the state government has planned to spend nearly Rs 25,000 crore each year on Ladki Bahin Scheme but did not show proactiveness in offering compensation to individuals as well as families affected by its actions.

The often quoted women centric scheme in focus now, the first tranche of cash under which is supposed to be released on August 19, was challenged in a separate case lodged in the Bombay High Court.

The petitioners here claimed that it would affect the state's ability to function effectively considering the pressure it would exert on the state treasury which is already reeling under a debt of Rs 7 lakh crore, which is state-wise the second highest in the country. The petition was later dismissed by the Bombay High Court after finding state government's explanation on the same satisfactory.