Land Oustees Can’t Be Denied Jobs Under Arbitrary ‘2-Acre Rule’ Contrary to State Rehabilitation Policy: Chhattisgarh HC Pulls Up SECL
Land acquired in assurance of employment, denied later under a new scheme
Justice Arvind Kumar Verma, Chhattisgarh High Court
The Chhattisgarh High Court in a significant ruling protecting the rights of land oustees (farmers), has set aside South Eastern Coalfields Limited’s (SECL) impugned order denying employment to villagers whose lands were acquired for mining projects. The Court held that the Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) cannot impose a minimum 2-acre landholding condition when the State’s Rehabilitation Policy does not prescribe such a requirement.
In the matter, the land was acquired on an assurance of employment to land losers, but Coal India later denied jobs under a new scheme, which the Court observed as an arbitrary and unfair action that violates legitimate expectation and thus cannot be sustained in law.
Justice Arvind Kumar Verma observed, “Right of the land losers to get employment as per the rehabilitation policy is extremely important right and that has to be considered in accordance with law and in accordance with the policy in force on the date of acquisition of their land and subsequent change in guideline of CIL will not take away their accrued right, if any, that has accrued to them by acquisition of their lands. Thus, the benefit of rehabilitation and employment to land oustee is logical corollary of Article 21 of the Constitution of India and denial of employment is violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India as well as Article 21”.
“No valid agreement or consent overrides the statutory policy, and any reliance on CIL policy in preference to the State policy is legally untenable. Despite repeated applications and directions of this Hon’ble Court to consider the petitioners’ claim in accordance with law, SECL has unlawfully rejected the claim”, the bench further observed.
Advocate Nupur Trivedi appeared for the petitioner and Sunita Manikpuri, Dy. G.A. Senior Advocate Vivek Ranjan Tiwari appeared for the respondents.
The petitioners, residents of Village Lat in Raigarh district, had their lands acquired in 2009 when SECL obtained surface rights over large tracts for mining operations.
At the time of acquisition, authorities had assured affected families of rehabilitation benefits, including employment. Despite this, SECL rejected their job claims through a 2020 order, arguing that under its internal guidelines and settlement terms, one job could be granted only where at least 2 acres of land had been acquired.
The High Court found the reliance legally unsustainable as it noted that the acquisition proceedings were governed by the Chhattisgarh Rehabilitation Policy, 2007, which provides employment to displaced families based on the extent of impact, not on any rigid 2-acre threshold.
Rejecting SECL’s argument that one family member had already been given employment in an earlier phase of acquisition, the Court held that the 2004 and 2009 acquisitions were separate proceedings under different legal provisions, giving rise to distinct rights. It also dismissed allegations that the family had malafidely partitioned land to multiply employment claims, observing that natural partition of ancestral property cannot automatically be treated as fraudulent.
Resultantly, the impugned order dated 06-01-2020 was quashed, and SECL was directed to reconsider the petitioners’ cases for rehabilitation and employment under the State policy within 45 days.
Cause Title: Ishwarilal Sahu State Of Chhattisgarh and Others [Neutral Citation: 2026:CGHC:4444]
Appearances:
Petitioner: Nupur Trivedi, Advocate.
Respondents: Sunita Manikpuri, Dy. G.A. Vivek Ranjan Tiwari, Sr. Advocate along with Vaibhav Shukla, Himanshu Yadu and Sudhir Bajpai, Advocates.