A Bench led by Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan emphasized that if the necessary steps are not taken by August 28, the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra may be summoned, and recent budgetary allocations for sops could be suspended.
NEW DELHI: On Wednesday (14th Aug), the Supreme Court issued a warning to the Maharashtra Government, cautioning that it might stay welfare schemes, such as the ‘Ladki Bahin Yojna,‘ if the State fails to compensate landowners who were granted denotified reserve forest land.
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A Bench led by Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan emphasized that if the necessary steps are not taken by August 28, the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra may be summoned, and recent budgetary allocations for sops could be suspended.
Justice Gavai remarked, “If you (Maharashtra) do not pay, unless we permit, we will not allow all those freebies in the State. We will stop Ladki Bahin, Behn… It is a holiday tomorrow, otherwise, we would have called the Chief Secretary tomorrow and it would be resolved. But we also do not want to burden the State exchequer. We are compelled to make these observations. You have thousands of crores of public money for freebies, but you cannot compensate someone who was deprived of land without due process.”
The Bench was reviewing the State’s compliance with an earlier order that required payment of compensatory afforestation levy related to the denotification of forest land at Pashan, Pune.
“If we determine that the compensation amount is not reasonable, we will order the demolition of the structure, regardless of whether it serves the national or public interest. Additionally, we will mandate compensation for the unlawful use of the land from 1963 to the present. If you intend to acquire the land now, it must be done in accordance with the new Land Acquisition Act,” the court stated.
On August 7, the Supreme Court criticized Maharashtra’s recent budget, which included sops amounting to Rs 96,000 crores, announced ahead of the upcoming State Assembly elections. Among these is the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, which promises Rs 1,500 monthly to eligible women aged 21-65.
The Court had previously remarked,
“You have enough money for Ladki Bahin (schemes) and all. All the money spent on freebies should be used to compensate for the loss of land.” This comment followed the State’s notification that the payment had not been made yet as the rates were still undetermined.
The Bench had given the State until August 9 to file an affidavit, warning that failure to do so would result in the Chief Secretary being required to appear in court.
During the hearing, the Maharashtra Government’s counsel expressed concern about the case making headlines in the media. Despite this, the Bench remained unconvinced.
As the session concluded, Justice Gavai issued a final warning, stating,
“If you do not come with answers on that day (August 28), then we will direct the highest compensation under the 2013 (Land Acquisition) Act. Do not wait for this order to be uploaded; it was passed in your presence.”
Additionally, the Supreme Court is currently considering a plea by BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, which seeks regulation of ‘freebies’ promised by political parties in their election manifestos. The Court, in October 2023, noted that various promises are made before elections, and such actions are beyond the court’s control.
