The Supreme Court of India has established a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to examine corruption allegations related to excessive compensation payments made to landowners by NOIDA officials. The SIT is to investigate compensation legality, identify responsible officials, and assess NOIDA’s transparency and fairness, submitting findings in two months while protecting landowners from punitive actions.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate allegations of corruption in the payment of excessive compensation to landowners by NOIDA officials. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh issued the order while hearing anticipatory bail pleas of NOIDA’s legal advisor and one of its law officers, who were accused of corruption.
The case revolves around claims that substantial amounts of compensation were improperly awarded to certain landowners, allegedly far exceeding what they were entitled to under legal provisions. The Supreme Court’s SIT includes IPS officer and Additional General of Police (Lucknow Zone) S B Shiradkar, Inspector General CBCID Modak Rajesh D Rao, and Commandant Hemant Kutiyal of the UP Special Range Security Battalion.
Scope of SIT Investigation
The SIT has been tasked with investigating key issues, including:
- Whether the compensation paid to landowners exceeded the amounts they were legally entitled to as per court judgments.
- Identifying the officers or officials responsible for any excessive payments.
- Investigating any potential collusion between beneficiaries and NOIDA officials.
- Assessing whether the overall functioning of NOIDA lacked transparency, fairness, and commitment to public interest.
The SIT has been directed to submit its findings in a sealed report within two months, with the freedom to explore related issues during the investigation. The bench, however, protected farmers and landowners from coercive or penal action without prior permission from the court.
Concerns Over Previous Probe
The Supreme Court criticized a fact-finding panel previously constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government, stating it failed to deliver a satisfactory outcome. The panel’s limited mandate and focus on a single case, instead of examining the larger issue of NOIDA’s functioning and transparency, drew sharp rebukes from the bench.
“It is obvious from the report that the committee comprising senior officers did not even care to understand the scope and import of the orders passed by this court,”
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the bench observed, adding that the fact-finding committee appeared to deviate from its primary responsibility.
Harassment Allegations
Farmers and landowners who received higher compensation alleged harassment by officials. The Supreme Court strongly criticized NOIDA, stating,
“NOIDA cannot browbeat the expropriated landowners on the pretext that they have been paid higher compensation.”
Case Title: Virendra Singh Nagar v. State of Uttar Pradesh and another
Read the Judgement here:
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