Court orders attachment of train station after railways fail to pay compensation to farmers
In 1998, when it was decided to lay railways tracks between Una and Churaru Takrala in Himachal Pradesh, two farmers - Mela Ram and Madan Lal - had to part with their lands.
Amid the current politicking over the Land Acquisition Bill, here is a story of how farmers can be deprived of fair compensation for the land taken away from them.
And it also leads to a situation when a court is forced to order attachment of a railway station.
In 1998, when it was decided to lay railways tracks between Una and Churaru Takrala in Himachal Pradesh, two farmers - Mela Ram and Madan Lal - had to part with their lands.
But the compensation that was given by the Indian Railways was not good enough for them. Despite repeated requests, the railways did not heed to their demands for a fair compensation.
And so the farmers approached the local district court in Una to seek justice. After hearing the case the court ordered the Indian Railways to pay Rs 25.54 lakh to Madan Lal and Rs 8.91 lakh to Mela Ram. However, the railways approached the state's High Court.
The High Court asked the railways to release the compensation amount in three months. But the railways failed to act in accordance with the High Court's order.
The farmers were then directed to approach the lower court to recover the compensation from the railways.
According to Arun Kumar Saini, the farmers' counsel, the Una-based court has now ordered the attachment of railway station and the adjoining land in case the railways fails to release the payment of compensation money.