A writ petition has been filed in the Ranchi High Court asking for an order quashing the acquisition of 1,363 acres of agricultural land by Adani Thermal Power Limited in Godda, Jharkhand. It also asked for an order directing the state of Jharkhand to return the land to the people it was acquired from. 

The petition asked the court to quash a December 2016 Social Impact Assessment report and an Environment Impact Assessment report dated April 7, 2017. It stated that the Social Impact Assessment agency with “malafide intention to benefit the Private Company Adani Power Limited, only included 841 land owners and their family members as affected persons excluding around 4000 agricultural labourers, tenants, shared croppers, usufruct right holders, artisans, fisher folk and patta holders etc (sic)”.

It said the report was “fundamentally flawed” because the landowners supporting the project during a public hearing were “handpicked” for the purpose. It added that the report had been prepared based on the “1932 record of rights” at which time the land had been “uneven and barren”. The report said there would be “zero displacement” which the writ petition called “cruel” because after the acquisition of land, “people will be rendered destitute and will be forced to leave in search of livelihood”.

The petition asked whether the power generated by the thermal plant would fulfil “public purpose” as defined by The Right to Fair Compensation And Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement Act, 2013. It said there was “not even a semblance of public interest” as the power generated by the project “shall be exported to Bangladesh”.

The 16 petitioners are from villages around the project and include retired teachers, farmers and agricultural labourers. They said 87 per cent of the affected families depended on agriculture for their livelihood.