The supreme court on Tuesday made scathing observations on the role of the state on issues involving land acquisition. It said that the state is using development as an excuse to grab land, thus depriving poor farmers of their livelihood for generations.

The apex court bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly was hearing a batch of petitions by builders challenging the Allahabad high court judgment that set aside the takeover of land acquisition by invoking emergency provisions of the Land Acquisition Act in the three villages of Shahberi, Surajpur and Gulistanpur in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida.

Terming the act of land acquisition an engine of oppression by the state, the bench observed, “What you are doing in the name of development  is that you are acquiring land for multiplexes and malls that the common man does not have access to. State should protect the common man’s rights but it’s the opposite.”

The court said instead of canals, barrages etc, malls, hotels and commercial townships are being built. “You are saying this is residential area. Residential area for whom? Those people whose land was taken away, were they not needy? You think judges are living in a fool’s paradise," the bench fumed.

Justice Singhvi said that depriving farmers of livelihood by grabbing their land leads them to either live in slums or resort to criminal activities. “State is driving out poor people. This is a sinister campaign by many state governments. It is anti-people,” said the division bench.

Pointing to the builders, the bench asked, “Your brochures say you have facilities like swimming pool, ayurvedic massage health club. Is all of this for poor people?”

The court observed that when people protest against acquisition, men are arrested and women are raped. “They lose their livelihood and then have to pay lawyers to fight their cases,” it noted.