The Supreme Court has directed a preliminary inquiry into alleged collusion between NOIDA authority officials and landowners in securing inflated land acquisition compensation. Hearing a matter related to suspected irregular payouts, a Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi constituted a new three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising IPS officers to investigate the allegations.
The earlier SIT had found evidence of excessive compensation in 20 cases and identified NOIDA officials suspected of involvement. The newly formed team will scrutinize financial trails, including bank accounts of officials, their family members, and landowners, as well as assets acquired during the relevant period, to determine the extent of collusion.
The Uttar Pradesh government, through Additional Advocate General Garima Prashad, assured full compliance with the Court’s directions. Significantly, the Bench also ordered that no new NOIDA projects shall proceed without environment impact assessment clearance and prior approval from the Supreme Court’s green bench that hears environmental matters.