The Supreme Court has taken a decisive step by appointing a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the operations of the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) following allegations of irregular compensation payments to landowners. This move comes after dissatisfaction with the preliminary findings of a panel set up by the Uttar Pradesh government.
During a session presided by Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh, the court addressed the anticipatory bail pleas of NOIDA’s legal advisor and one of its law officers, both implicated in a corruption scandal concerning the undue compensation payouts. The justices have highlighted concerns regarding substantial sums paid to certain landowners who, reportedly, were not entitled to such high compensation figures.
The SIT, which includes prominent officers like IPS S B Shiradkar from the Lucknow zone, Inspector General CBCID Modak Rajesh D Rao, and Hemant Kutiyal, Commandant of UP Special Range Security Battalion, is tasked with a comprehensive investigation. The team will examine whether the compensation amounts exceeded what the courts have historically ruled as fair, identify responsible officials, and explore potential collusion between NOIDA officers and beneficiaries. Moreover, it will assess if NOIDA’s overall operations lack transparency and integrity.
The court has directed the SIT to submit their findings in a sealed cover within two months and has granted them the authority to probe any related issues they uncover.
Importantly, the bench has ensured that beneficiaries, including farmers and other landowners who received the excess payments, are shielded from coercive actions without specific court approval. This protective measure underscores the court’s intention to handle the matter delicately, avoiding undue hardship for those potentially wronged by bureaucratic overreach.
The case’s backdrop includes multiple instances where NOIDA allegedly engaged in questionable compensation practices, ostensibly based on extraneous factors rather than legal merits. These issues were flagged during hearings in September 2023, leading to an initial state-led inquiry. However, the Supreme Court found the subsequent November 2023 report from this state-appointed committee unsatisfactory, criticizing it for narrowly focusing on a single compensation case while ignoring broader systemic issues.
