Two years after a multi-crore land scam rocked the Kandla Port Trust (KPT) in Gandhidham, the Delhi High Court recently issued notices to the Ministry of Shipping and the KPT in this regard. The notices are returnable by October 9.

Taking cognisance of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), the court, on September 9, also asked the KPT not to execute or renew any lease on the land in question further. The Trust, the biggest public sector port in India, handles 70 million metric tonnes cargo annually.

At the heart of the controversy is nearly 16,000 acres owned by the KPT. It was leased out to a few salt companies at throw away prices four decades ago.

“The scam has cost the KPT several crores. The land had been exploited for 40 years for salt production, which is not even a port-related activity. According to the Shipping ministry rules, the land can be used only for port related activities,” said Pranav Sachdeva, a senior lawyer on behalf of CPIL.

Even as the lease period expired in 2004, the companies allegedly continue to use the land, causing the KPT a loss of Rs 200 crore each year, which, incidentally, is even more than the Trust’s turnover of Rs 180 crore. The PIL says the land was leased out to 26 companies, which are owned by a group of some six families.

The KPT has been charging only Rs 145 per acre/per annum, even though rules say the lease should be 6 per cent of the cost of the land. The current price of this land in bank documents filed seeking loans by these companies was put at Rs 1.78 lakh per acre.

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