On the heels of agitation over land acquisition at Bhatta Parsaul in Greater Noida, Haryana?s main opposition Indian National Lok Dal has demanded that all Reliance-owned land in the state acquired for proposed special economic zone be given back to farmers.

The development comes in the wake of the state government granting one year extension to Reliance Haryana SEZ for its Jhajjar SEZ. Sources in the state government told FE that ?the extension has been given upto March 2012 and formal notification in this regard was issued last month on April 4 after an inter-ministerial Board of Approval headed by commerce secretary Rahul Khullar at its last meeting on March 25 agreed to the request?. Though the developer had sought extension of the original letter of approval to March 2015, the Board decided to extend the validity (of LOA) upto March 31, 2012.

MP and INLD secretary general Ajay Singh Chautala told FE, ?The law of the land is the same for all. The Reliance SEZ land should be given back to the rightful owners as Reliance has exhausted two opportunities to complete the process. No real work except barbed wire fencing has taken place and Reliance has even terminated the services of majority of the staff including vice-presidents hired for the project.?

Ironically, Reliance had promised to bring in R1 lakh crore investment and generate 10 lakh direct and indirect jobs for the youth of the state.

Chautala said, ?Haryana government was acting like a property broker for the land mafia and big business houses and allowing acquisition of fertile farm from villagers.? He said that the SEZ project is ?the biggest land scandal in the history and the scam should be probed?.

?When no headway had been made in the SEZ by Reliance in more than four years after MoU signing during June 2006, what more evidence could one need for the fraud that SEZ is? said Chautala. President of Haryana Janhit Cognress and an elected legislator, Kuldip Bishnoi said that he ?had parted way with ruling party in Haryana finding many skeletons in the project?.