Archive · 8 Aug 2026
Allahabad HC upholds UP land law, orders 2013 Act compensation
A court in India made an important decision about land.
The court is called the Allahabad High Court, and it has a special branch in a city called Lucknow.
There is an old law from 1965 that lets the government take land to build houses.
Some people said parts of that law were not fair.
The court said most of the old law is okay, but one part needs to be changed.
It said people whose land is taken must be paid the same fair amount as the newer, better law from 2013 gives them.
The court also said people who lose their homes must get help finding new homes.
The government board that builds houses in Uttar Pradesh must fix the payments it already made.
The court also decided not to stop three housing projects in a holy city called Ayodhya.
Those projects started in 2020 and lots of money and work has already gone into them.
Landowners who are not happy with their payment can go back to court.
This decision helps protect people's rights while letting the housing projects continue.
The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court upheld sections 28, 31, and 32 of the Uttar Pradesh Awas Evam Vikas Parishad Adhiniyam, 1965.
The court read down Section 55 and its Schedule, ruling they violate Article 14 if safeguards comparable to the 2013 land acquisition law are absent.
It directed that every acquisition under the 1965 Act provide monetary compensation and rehabilitation and resettlement benefits equal to those under the 2013 Act.
The Uttar Pradesh Housing and Development Board was ordered to revisit prior awards and frame a rehabilitation scheme for fully displaced landowners within six months.
The court declined to quash three Ayodhya housing schemes under implementation since 2020, citing substantial public investment and allotments already made to third parties.
- Who
- A division bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla at the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court, with the Uttar Pradesh Housing and Development Board directed to comply.
- What
- The court upheld key provisions of the UP Awas Evam Vikas Parishad Adhiniyam, 1965, read down Section 55, ordered compensation at par with the 2013 land acquisition law, and declined to quash three Ayodhya housing schemes.
- When
- The judgment was reported on August 7.
- Where
- Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court, regarding land in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
- Why
- To ensure landowners receive equality before the law under Article 14 and to avoid derailing years of public investment in the housing schemes.
- Court
- Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court
- Bench
- Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla
- Impugned Law
- Uttar Pradesh Awas Evam Vikas Parishad Adhiniyam, 1965
- Sections Upheld
- 28, 31, and 32
- Section Read Down
- Section 55 and its Schedule
- Compensation Standard
- Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013
- Rehabilitation Deadline
- Six months to frame and implement a scheme under Section 21 of the 1965 Act
- Ayodhya Schemes
- Three housing schemes under implementation since 2020