In Brief
Eastern Coalfields Limited challenged a High Court order directing it to grant employment to Anadinath Banerjee under a tripartite land acquisition and rehabilitation agreement. The agreement promised employment to those whose land holdings of at least 2 acres were acquired. Banerjee's actual holding was only 0.3 acres in his own name; he claimed 2.01 acres by adding land of non-dependent relatives through affidavits. The Supreme Court held that non-dependent relatives' land cannot be aggregated with the claimant's holding merely through self-serving affidavits, which do not transfer property title. Since Banerjee failed to prove a 2-acre holding in his own name or as a dependent family unit, he was ineligible for employment. The appeals were allowed and the writ petition dismissed.
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