The Supreme Court on Wednesday paused a Gujarat High Court order asking the state government to resume the process of taking back almost 108 hectares of grazing land given to Adani Ports in 2005.

A bench headed by Justice BR Gavai and comprising Justice KV Viswanathan halted the High Court order. The judges took note of an appeal by the Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited, which submitted that the court order is required to be paused in the interest of justice.

The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Gujarat government and issued a notice.

"Issue a notice. Stay of impugned order," the bench said.

The 108 hectares of land (266 acres) is located near Mundra port in Kutch district.

The top court order came after the Gujarat government informed the High Court last week that it would start taking back the land that was given to the Adani Group entity in 2005.

The state government's decision came 13 years after residents of Navinal village of Kutch district had moved a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against a decision to allot 231 acres of gracing land to the Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd. Though the allotment to the Adani firm was made in 2005, the villagers learnt about the same in 2010.

The villagers have argued that the village was left with just 45 acres of grazing land following allotment of 231 of 276 acres of such land to Adani Ports. They also asserted that the move was illegal since the village was already grappling with a shortage of grazing land. Moreover, they claimed the land was a common one and a community resource.

Source: ANI