After 36-Year Legal Battle, Panipat Farmer Reclaims Land as PWD Uproots Barsat Road

A decades-long fight for justice reached its conclusion in Panipat when the Public Works Department finally returned agricultural land to farmer Sanjay Gupta's family after uprooting portions of the busy Barsat Road on Friday. The landmark decision ended a 36-year legal battle that began when PWD constructed the road in 1960 without proper land acquisition or compensation.  

The case was first brought in 1988 by Gupta's father, Rameshwar Chand, who won a favorable court decision in 1995. The family had to go back to court in 1996 for execution orders because PWD refused to carry out the ruling. The department was finally forced to take action after Chief Judicial Magistrate Mahender Singh issued a strict directive recently. The controversy centered around PWD's unauthorized use of private agricultural land for road construction.

Using exact court-ordered measurements based on the original 1988 demarcation, the department demarcated and returned roughly 320 square meters to Gupta's family. With thousands of commuters every day and a large number of businesses lining both sides, Barsat Road was an essential transportation route that connected several villages and colonies in the Noorwala region.  

Due to traffic being diverted to other routes, Friday's partial road closure resulted in major traffic disruptions. According to landowner Surbhi Sharma, several families experienced comparable circumstances; the majority of them won legal battles but never got possession or payment. 

Tragically, fellow affected farmer Raghuvir Saini died recently while still fighting for his rights. Other impacted families seeking justice for comparable land acquisition irregularities throughout the region have found hope in the successful execution of this long-pending court order.