The land is in Sonepat, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Panchkula, Karnal and other districts. Justifying the ‘controversial’ acquisition, Haryana government claimed that the land was always acquired for development of infrastructure, and was never released to any private person. The state has refuted allegations of fraud.

A division bench comprising Justice A K Goel and Justice Jitendra Chauhan has also directed the Haryana government to produce the copies of the decision-making by various authorities before acquiring or releasing land. “This is an issue which will affect all the residents of Haryana. We are not looking at an individual case but looking at the larger picture” the Bench remarked.

The High Court had sought details of the land acquired and released in the last three years, keeping in view the increasing number of cases alleging shady land acquisition in the garb of public interest. The orders were passed in January this year.