HYDERABAD: Raising a demand that the unused land in special economic zones (SEZ) all over the country should be returned to the farmers, farmers from Kakinada SEZ who formed themselves into an organisation SEZ Farmers’ Protection Welfare association filed a petition in the Supreme Court. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India is likely to hear the case on Monday.The petitioners said that their land was acquired for Kakinada SEZ in 2006 which has not been operationalised till 2016. “The KSEZ developer committed several illegalities to procure our land with active support from the state government officials. Huge loans were obtained by the developer by mortgaging our land and the money thus generated was diverted for other purposes,” they alleged. The plea said the farmers had drawn inspiration from the Supreme Court judgement delivered in Singur SEZ case and have approached the apex court seeking return of the land to the farmers if the same is lying unused.The petitioners welcomed the decision of the Maharashtra government that has taken a decision to return the land to the farmers if the land is lying unused with the SEZ unused for ten years on a condition that farmers should refund the compensation they received. However, petitioners added that since lives have been jeopardised, the land should be returned without insisting on refund. None of the SEZs were capable of creating the employment they promised in the beginning, they said. They also brought to the notice of the court the CAG report that trashed the very idea of SEZs because they were ending up as real estate firms at the cost of the lives of the farmers. The farmers criticised the TDP government for backtracking from its promise of returning the land to farmers if it is voted to power. “It was voted to power, but now its officials are defending Kakinada SEZ,” the farmers’ counsel told TOI. “We named the states of AP, Telangana West Bengal , UP, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, the Centre and its ministry of commerce and industry as respondents in the plea,” he added.

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