High court issues notice to Punjab on plea against land pooling policy
Gurdeep Singh Gill, 72, a resident of Phagla village in Ludhiana district, has sought directions to quash the notification dated June 4, 2025, along with the Land Pooling Policy 2025, being ultra vires and an act of "colourable legislation", violating fundamental rights.
Gill, who claimed to have turned unproductive land capable of producing multi-crops with a fully developed irrigation system, said the policy includes his land without following the mandatory procedure under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (LARR Act) 2013.
"There are also no enabling provisions under LARR 2013 to frame or implement such a land pooling policy.
Instead, the competent statutory framework for such urban development and land pooling in Punjab is the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act 1995, which has been arbitrarily bypassed," the petition said, adding no social impact assessment report was either prepared or published according to provisions of law.
Moreover, according to the petition, none of the gram panchayats or gram sabhas were approached or consulted by the state before bringing the policy.
A division bench comprising Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and Justice Deepak Manchanda issued the notice after taking cognisance of the petition.
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