The Bench headed by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, acting on a public interest petition filed by an association of landless farmers of Karnataka, issued notices to chief secretaries of all states besides seeking response from the Union Ministries of Commerce and Agriculture.

The petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution has raised a rather crucial question as to what constitutes the "public purpose" citing which the Government is authorised to acquire large pieces of agriculture land, owned and acquired by farmers and cultivators under provisions of the statute under question.

The petitioner has thereby challenged the legality and constitutional validity of the sections including Section 3(f), 4 and 6 of the said Act, which authorises the Government to acquire land under the guise of "public purpose" terming it as unconstitutional and violative of the Articles 14 (Right to Equality), 19 (1) (g), 21 (Right to life and personal liberty) besides others rights enshrined in the

Constitution.

The petitioner asked the Bench, also comprising Justice R V Raveendran and Justice H S Bedi, for a direction to the Government and all states from going ahead with the acquisition proceedings of the agricultural land.

Besides, the petition, citing figures of how much land has been acquired in states like Karnataka and West Bengal, seeks a direction to rehabilitate all displaced farmers.

Transfer of SIMI case: Notice to Centre

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to file its response on a plea by Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) seeking transfer of a case pending in Delhi High Court against it to the apex court. The organisation had filed the petition in Delhi High Court challenging the ban imposed on it in 2003. The Centre had been extending the ban after every two years since it was imposed in 2001.