Burdwan, Dec. 7: A Burdwan court has ordered auctioning of the district magistrate's bungalow to pay Rs 74 lakh to five farmers who had given land for a township project.

The additional district judge (first court) of Burdwan passed the order on November 18 and fixed the date of auction on January 15, 2015. The Burdwan Development Authority (BDA) has said it will move the high court against the order.

The court's order came after the BDA repeatedly failed to pay the compensation settled by the court.

The state government had in 2006 acquired 254.74 acres from around 600 farmers in Burdwan to set up the Renaissance township. The landlosers were paid about Rs 7 lakh an acre by the BDA.

Five farmers, who had collectively given 0.82 acre for the project, moved the court in 2010, demanding a higher compensation as they felt they had not been paid according to the market rate.

The Burdwan court, which the five farmers had moved, had in April 2011 directed the district administration to pay them Rs 35 lakh an acre.

The order issued by additional district judge Siddhartha Kanjilal read: 'The market price of the acquired land is fixed at Rs 35,000 per satak (or per decimal, which translates to Rs 35 lakh an acre as 100 decimals make an acre). The present petitioners are entitled to get compensation at the aforesaid enhanced rate.'

The court said the petitioners were also entitled to get an amount calculated at the rate of 12 per cent per annum 'in addition to the aforesaid market value' and a solatium at 30 per cent per annum on the amount awarded by the land acquisition collector.

The petitioners were also supposed 'to get interest 9 per cent per annum on the amount in excess of the amount awarded by the land acquisition collector on and from the date of possession of the land...'

The total amount worked out to Rs 69,45,568, which the district administration was supposed to pay the five farmers.

The BDA did not make the payment, prompting the five to move the court again in December 2013.

The judge, this time, directed the administration to pay the farmers Rs 74,04,645.

When this order, too, was not obeyed, the judge directed on November 18 the auctioning of the district magistrate's bungalow.

Asked about the latest order, BDA chief executive officer Subhendu Basu said: 'We have received the court order. We will approach the high court in a few days and seek a stay on the auction.'

Asked why the Burdwan court's order was not followed, a BDA official said: 'Our legal cell did not explain the court order properly. We will now approach the high court.'

Contacted, a member of the legal cell denied they were at fault.

'We had drawn the attention of the BDA officials more than once, but they did not give importance to the matter,' said the legal cell member, requesting anonymity.

An official of the Shrachi Group, the project promoter, said the compensation was decided following discussions between the government and the landlosers. 'We are not aware of the court order,' the official said.

The township project had been mired in protests since it took off. Apart from the five farmers, around 250 Trinamul-backed villagers organised a sit-in at the project site in October 2013 and stopped work for nearly a year.

The villagers had been protesting under the banner of the Trinamul-backed Paschim Bardhaman Krishi Kalyan Samit, demanding Rs 86 lakh an acre. They have also been demanding that they be given jobs at the project site and developed plots in the Renaissance compound.

The agitation was withdrawn in September this year after it was decided that the BDA and Shrachi Group would lease out a part of the plot to the agitating landlosers.

According to the agreement, 30 acres would be given to the cooperative society of the landlosers for 99 years for Re 1. The cooperative is yet to be set up.

Burdwan district magistrate Saumitra Mohan said he had informed the higher authorities about the latest order. 'I have also informed the land and land reforms department, which had acquired the plots, and the BDA, which had disbursed the compensation to the landlosers,' Mohan said.

The petitioners' lawyer, Amiya Chowdhury, described the order as 'historic'. 'It's a historic order passed by the court. We are happy that the judge has ordered the DM's bungalow to be auctioned,' Chowdhury said.

One of the petitioners, Anwar Ali, said: 'We are hopeful of getting our money this time after the bungalow is auctioned.'