Title - HC orders status quo on land acquired for railway line

Allahabad, Aug 28 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court today directed Railway authorities to maintain status quo with regard to over 100 acres of land acquired in Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh for a proposed railway line, said to be a "dream project" of the then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad. A Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Amitav Lala and Justice P K S Baghel passed the order on a petition filed by Triveni Yadav and other residents of Deoria. They have challenged the acquisition of land which, they claimed, has affected thousands of farmers in around 40 villages. Land was acquired in 2009 and the petitioners have claimed though the line was supposed to connect Bhatni in Deoria with Hathua in Gopalganj district in Bihar which was merely 35-km away, the length of the railway line had been pegged at 80-km only to ensure that it reached the then Railway Minister's native village of Phulwaria. The petitioners have claimed that the proposed railway line was a "dream project" of Prasad. The court, ordering that status quo be maintained, listed the case for further hearing in the last week of September.