Mohali Sector 101 Land Acquisition Halted Till January मोहाली सेक्टर 101 का भूमि अधिग्रहण जनवरी तक रुका ਮੋਹਾਲੀ ਸੈਕਟਰ 101 ਦਾ ਜ਼ਮੀਨ ਐਕੁਆਇਰ ਜਨਵਰੀ ਤੱਕ ਰੁਕਿਆ

The land Punjab wants for a green industrial park in Sectors One Hundred and One and One Hundred and Three of Mohali will stay out of the state's hands until at least the twenty first of January. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has kept in place its stay on the acquisition and given the state a final opportunity to file its reply, Hindi TV News reported on the thirtieth of October. About three hundred acres of farmland in the villages around these sectors are involved.

The stay was first ordered on the twenty third of September by a division bench of Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri and Justice Pravindra Singh Chauhan, on petitions led by Kesar Singh and other landowners. The bench's words were plain: "Till the next date of hearing, the further acquisition proceedings shall remain stayed."

Why the court stopped the acquisition

The landowners argued that the state broke two parts of the land acquisition law, the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act.

The first is section ten. It bars the acquisition of irrigated multi-cropped land, except in exceptional circumstances and as a demonstrable last resort. The social impact assessment for the project described the area as predominantly productive farmland, watered by tubewells and supporting orchards and dairying. It counted fourteen tubewells, two dairy farms, sixty three fruit-bearing trees and one hundred and twelve other trees on the land, and seventy two families affected directly or indirectly. It rated the impact of losing the farmland as negative and high.

Section ten does not bar such acquisition outright. Where multi-cropped land is taken, the law requires the state to develop an equal area of culturable wasteland for farming, or to deposit an amount equal to the value of the land for investment in agriculture. It also lets the state cap how much such land can be acquired in any district.

The bench gave the state repeated chances to show a decision invoking the section ten exception. The Tribune reported that it produced none.

The second is section fifteen, which gives landowners sixty days to object after the preliminary notification and requires the Collector to hear them and decide. The landowners said their objections were never heard and no decision was ever sent to them. The state's counsel could not show that a decision had been communicated. On both counts the bench held that, at first sight, the state had not followed the law.

Where the project had reached

The Tribune reported in March that the land for Sectors One Hundred and One and One Hundred and Three had reached the section eleven stage, the preliminary notification, after the social impact assessment was cleared. The next steps would have been the declaration under section nineteen and the award under section thirty.

The stay halts the process at that point. While it lasts, no declaration or award can issue and no possession can be taken.

The stay also stops a clock that would otherwise run against the state. Under section nineteen, a declaration must follow within twelve months of the preliminary notification, or the notification lapses. The law excludes any period during which a court stay holds up the proceedings, so the time lost to this case does not count against the state. If the High Court lifts the stay, the state gets back the months that remained.

What the stay means for the land

The stay does not cancel the preliminary notification. Under section eleven, once that notification is published, no one can sell or mortgage the notified land without the Collector's permission. That restriction stays in force while the case is pending. Landowners keep their land and keep farming it, but they cannot sell it freely, and buyers cannot safely buy it.

Our report on [Expo City acquisition freezing land sales in four villages](/article/410-expo-city-acquisition-freezes-land-sales-in-4-villages) explains how that sale curb works for land under a preliminary notification.

The stay also leaves compensation unknown. The amount a landowner receives is fixed in the award, which cannot be made while the stay lasts.

What happened at the October hearing

The bench had listed the case for the twenty seventh of October and given the state four weeks to file a detailed reply. Hindi TV News reported that the state had not filed its reply by the hearing and asked for more time. The court kept the stay, gave the state a final opportunity to file its reply and fixed the twenty first of January for the next hearing.

What it means for buyers eyeing the area

The industrial park was meant to add a new block of industrial plots in Mohali. GMADA's base rate for industrial plots in Sector One Hundred and One was forty five thousand rupees a square yard in its November two thousand and twenty five revision, The Tribune reported. Those plots cannot be carved out or auctioned while the land itself is not acquired.

For anyone offered land in the villages of these sectors, the court record matters more than any promise. Land under a preliminary notification cannot be sold without the Collector's permission, whatever the stay. If the acquisition is later quashed, the notification falls and the land is free again. If the state wins, the acquisition resumes and the land goes to the state at the award price.

Our pages on [GMADA](/gmada) and [Mohali plots](/plots) list the schemes and plots open now.

The open points

The state's reply, when filed, will show whether it claims the section ten exception and on what grounds. The court will then decide whether the acquisition can continue. Until the twenty first of January, the land stays with the farmers and outside the market.

Sources: The sources we use are listed on our Editorial Sources page.

This piece reports a High Court stay on land acquisition for an industrial park in Mohali. It gives no legal advice, and the position of any parcel turns on the notification, the court's orders and its own revenue record.