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As the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Uttar Pradesh Police’s special investigation team (SIT) to complete within two months its probe into excess payouts by the Noida authority in land compensation cases, officials said the revelations that triggered the inquiry had already forced a policy overhaul in the Authority’s compensation system.
₹7.28 crore in wrongful payouts. (HT Archive)” title=”The case in question involved two Noida authority officers who allegedly sanctioned ₹7.28 crore in wrongful payouts. (HT Archive)” />The case that led to the wider investigation centres on wrongful claims amounting to ₹91.81 crore from village Gejha Tilaptabad along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway. The irregularities exposed a procedural gap: additional compensation was being transferred directly to farmers’ accounts, leaving room for manipulation when landowners and officials colluded.
Following the discovery of irregular payments, the Noida authority changed its protocol. Additional compensation is no longer credited to farmers directly; instead, funds are now deposited with the Land and Reference Court (LRC), overseen by the district judge. The court verifies eligibility and then releases the money.
“To make sure only eligible farmers get the additional compensation, we have changed the policy after learning a lesson from this case,” Noida authority CEO Lokesh M said. “Now the court verifies eligible farmers and only then allows transfer of funds.”
The case in question involved two Noida authority officers who allegedly sanctioned ₹7.28 crore in wrongful payouts. The SIT, constituted in August, is probing whether officials colluded with landowners. The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed displeasure over the SIT’s request for more time, remarking, “You also seem reluctant to conduct the probe,” and instructing the team to examine assets of officials posted during the period. “We expect the SIT to examine all the assets of the officers, including law officers,” the bench said.
Before the SIT was formed, the Supreme Court had appointed a committee headed by then UP ADG SB Shiradkar. The panel reported that while the court had mandated enhanced compensation in 1,167 cases, the Authority paid it in 1,198. It flagged 20 cases of illegal excess payment and identified several officials as key suspects.
An Authority official said the new system leaves “no scope of error,” as additional payouts are no longer handled directly by the Authority. He added that future acquisitions themselves may be limited. Since 1976, Noida has urbanised nearly 16,000 hectares of farmland, leaving only small pockets in private hands. “There is hardly land left to acquire, and farmers now do not want to give up the remaining patches,” the official said.
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