Lucknow, Aug 18 The Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench on Tuesday set aside an order that stalled a proposed hotel project in Ayodhya on grounds of land acquisition, observing that government departments must honour commitments made under the state's investment and tourism policies.
A bench of Justices Alok Mathur and Amitabh Kumar Rai quashed the order passed by the Housing Commissioner on May 29, 2024, holding it illegal.
The bench directed the state government to take a decision within six weeks on whether the land could be exempted from acquisition in accordance with law.
The case concerns 2,530 square metres of land in Kudakeshavpur Uparhar village in Ayodhya, where petitioner Kalpana Nigam proposed a hotel project, 'Ramakulam Regency'.
The Ayodhya Development Authority had approved the hotel map on July 17, 2023, while the Housing Development Council published the land acquisition notification on August 19, 2023.
The court noted that the hotel plan had been approved before the acquisition notification was issued and that the construction process had also commenced earlier.
The bench observed that government departments must respect promises and decisions made under policies aimed at promoting investment in the state.
The bench noted that meetings of Invest UP had already considered the issue and decided that hotel projects whose maps had been approved before issuance of acquisition notifications should be kept outside the acquisition process.
Invest UP is an investment promotion and facilitation agency powered by the state government.
The court said that state investment policies create a legitimate expectation among investors and government authorities cannot arbitrarily depart from commitments flowing from such policies.
The bench also took note of the petitioner's contention that the project was being developed under the state's investment and tourism promotion framework and that the authorities had initially recognised the project as eligible for exemption from acquisition.
The court accordingly quashed the Housing Commissioner's May 29, 2024 order and directed the state government to reconsider the matter under Section 49 of the Uttar Pradesh Awas Evam Vikas Parishad Adhiniyam.
The government has been directed to take a decision within six weeks on exemption of the land from acquisition.
