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News Topical, Digital Desk : The Supreme Court has reopened the ₹400 crore land dispute case between the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) and the family of former royal family member and Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari.
The Supreme Court has set aside the Rajasthan High Court's decision which had allowed the 2011 trial court verdict in favour of the royal estate to stand without any investigation.
During the hearing, a bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Vishwanathan said there was no justification for the high court to dismiss the JDA's appeal on technical grounds. The judges directed the high court bench to decide the JDA's first appeal on the merits within four weeks and submit a compliance report.
What is the whole matter?
The dispute pertains to land that was known as Hathroi village in official records, but later became part of the urban expansion of central Jaipur, including prime real estate, schools, hospitals and other civic infrastructure.
The Jaipur Development Authority recorded this land in its revenue records as "Siwai Chak," meaning "non-cultivated government land." According to the JDA, the land is worth ₹400 crore.
Land was seized in the 1990s
The petition, filed by the JDA, states that the municipal administration took possession of the land in the 1990s. The petition challenges the former royal family's claim that it was registered as private property under the 1949 agreement relating to Jaipur's merger with the Indian Union. The land was never registered as the royal family's private property, and a large portion of the land was legally acquired between 1993 and 1995 after compensation was paid.
The royal family declared ownership
But in 2005, the royal family filed a lawsuit seeking declaration of ownership. Six years later, on November 24, 2011, the trial court ruled in their favor, declaring them owners. The court also set aside revenue entries in favor of the state and barred authorities from interfering with the possession.
The JDA then filed its first appeal in 2012. It was dismissed in November 2013, but was reinstated a year later. On September 15th of last year, the Rajasthan High Court refused to intervene in the land dispute, upholding the trial court's decision without appellate scrutiny.
Following this, the Jaipur Development Authority moved the Supreme Court on December 10. The JDA argued that the government land was taken away on technical grounds despite issues related to public title, completion of acquisition, settlement of revenue records, and the constitutional bar under Article 363.
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