New Delhi Apr 26 PTI Depriving farmers of their livelihood and property without the authority of law would be a violation of the Constitution the Supreme Court said on TuesdayA bench of justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Vikram Nath said there is no justification for not paying compensation to farmers for widening of roadsConstruction or widening of road no doubt would be a public purpose but there being no justification for not paying compensation the action of the respondents would be arbitrary unreasonable and clearly violative of Article 300A of the Constitution the bench saidThe top courts judgment came on a plea filed by eight farmers against a Kerala High Court judgment that dismissed their appealsThe appellants are the owners of the land in dispute measuring 17078 hectaresAccording to the appellants the panchayat had requested them to let their land be utilised for the construction or widening of the Sulthan Batheri Bypass road and they were assured that they would be given adequate compensation for the landHowever no compensation was paid when the road was constructed they saidThe appellants made various representations since the construction was going on and even after it was completed but when no heed was paid to their request they approached the high courtThe apex court said the appellants are farmers and the land utilised in this case was agricultural landIt was part of their livelihood Depriving them of their livelihood and also of their property without authority of law would be violative of Article 21 and Article 300A of the Constitution it saidThe top court said Article 300A though not a fundamental right has the status of being a constitutional or a statutory rightIt provides that no citizen would be deprived of his property save without authority of law Depriving somebody of his property where it is land can be made by a number of modes for example by acquisition surrender or by transfer and other facets alsoIn the present case it being utilised for the road to be owned by the panchayat or municipality it could either have been voluntarily surrendered transferred by way of title deeds or by way of acquisition as may be provided under the statute the bench saidThe apex court said to say that there was a substantial delay on the part of the appellants in agitating for their rights would not be correctIt said the sole question for consideration would be as to whether the appellants had voluntarily surrendered their land to the panchayat free of cost without raising any claim for compensationThe panchayat as also the Public Works Department have failed to produce a single piece of document or evidence in any other form in support of their defence that the appellants have surrendered their land voluntarilyThe consistent stand of the appellants on the other hand has been that they have not given their land to the panchayat voluntarily and that they were assured that they would be suitably compensated the bench saidThe top court said Article 300A clearly mandates that no person shall be deprived of his property save by the authority of lawIn the present case we do not find under which authority of law the land of the appellants was taken and they were deprived of the sameIf the panchayat and the PWD failed to produce any evidence that appellants have surrendered their land voluntarily depriving the appellants of the property would be in violation of Article 300A of the Constitution the bench said while allowing the appeals filed by the farmers PTI PKS RC

New Delhi Mar 24 PTIA plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into the death of eight people in a fire tragedy in West Bengals Birbhum districtThe plea filed by Vishnu Gupta the national president of the Hindu Sena alleged that local authorities are trying to shield the real culprits of the ghastly incident under the influence of the ruling Trinamool Congress TMC in the stateThe police administration of the state of West Bengal has miserably failed in discharging its duty and responsibility in protecting the life and property of the people of village Bogtui district Birbhum West Bengal The ghastly incident of murder arson and loot which took place on March 21 2022 has resulted in the murder of more than eight persons of the village which include women and childrenFurther the fear and insecurity and lack of faith in the police administration is also evident from the exodus of people from that village to some other safe places Therefore it requires interference of this court to protect the fundamental right of the people in Birbhum district the plea saidIt has sought directions to the investigating agency to take over all the FIRs registered by the local police in connection with the incident PTI PKS RC

New Delhi Feb 26 PTI A candidate cannot be permitted to approach for the redressal of his grievance at any stage of time during a recruitment process the Supreme Court has saidA bench of justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh said there has to be a closure to the process of recruitment and that it cannot go on indefinitelyIn our view in a recruitment process a candidate cannot be permitted to approach for redressal howsoever may be the genuineness of the grievance at any stage of time as there has to be a closure to the process of recruitment the bench saidThe top courts observation came while hearing an appeal filed by a man who had applied for the post of sub-assistant engineer civil in 1999The appellant cleared the medical fitness test but his appointment could not take place as the police verification report was not receivedThe petitioner claimed that he waited for about seven years for getting the appointment letter and only thereafter approached the State Administrative Tribunal SATHis application was directed to be considered and in 2006 it is stated that the Public Works Department PWD put only one aspect against the appellant -- non-receipt of the police verification reportIn the second application filed by the appellant he sought a direction for foregoing the police verification report as he had suffered for about eight years The tribunal however rejected the claim on the ground that the appellant had not made the representation to know the fate of the police verification reportThe appellant assailed the decision of the tribunal before the Calcutta High Court which dismissed the case on the ground that the appellant is a Bangladeshi citizenThe top court said the fact that the advertisement was of 1999 and it is 2022 now itself is an impediment to any relief to the appellantIn case of an advertisement dated 1999 the appellant cannot be permitted to plead that he was waiting for seven long years for getting an appointment letter and then woke up to file the OA before the State Administrative TribunalThis itself is a ground to non-suit the appellant In view of the aforesaid we are not commenting on the factual correctness of the police verification report which is sought to be disputed by the appellant The appeal is accordingly dismissed the bench said PTI PKS RC