56 years after Indo-China war, Arunachal villagers get Rs 38 cr land compensation
Bomdila (Arunachal Pradesh), Oct 21: More than 56 years after India's war with China, villagers of Arunachal Pradesh have received nearly Rs 38 crore as compensation for the land acquired by the Army to set up its bases, bunkers and barracks.
At a special function held here, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu distributed the cheques to the villagers of West Kameng district on Friday.
"A total of Rs 37.73 crore has been given to the villagers. Those were community land. So the huge amount they received will be distributed amongst the villagers," Rijiju told PTI.
Among those who received the cheques include Prem Dorjee Khrimey, who received Rs 6.31 crore, while Phuntso Khawa got Rs 6.21 crore and Khandu Glow received Rs 5.98 crore.
After the 1962 India-China war, the Army had acquired huge tracks of land to set up its bases, bunkers, barracks, construct roads, build bridges and other installations.
However, no compensation was given to the land owners till last year.
Rijiju, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh, had persuaded with the Defence Ministry and got the compensation amounts sanctioned.
"Lands acquired by the Army were done in national interest, but no government has bothered to pay the compensation to the villagers of Arunachal Pradesh since the 1960s. I am thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for clearing it finally. Total cheques of Rs 37.73 crore were handed over," he said.
In April 2017, Rs 54 crore was distributed among 152 families of three villages of West Kameng district. In September that year, another instalment of Rs 158 crore was distributed among the villagers for the private land taken over by the Army.
In February 2018, Rs 40.80 crore was handed over to 31 families in Tawang district.
The pending cases of land acquisition related to the districts of Tawang, West Kameng, Upper Subansiri, Dibang Valley and West Siang in Arunachal Pradesh.
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Allahabad HC orders FIR against Rahul Gandhi in dual citizenship case
Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered an FIR be filed against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in connection with an alleged dual citizenship controversy.
The bench permitted the state government to hand over the probe to any central probe agency after registration of the FIR.
The order was passed by a bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi on a petition filed by S Vignesh Shishir, who had challenged a January 28 order of a special MP/MLA court rejecting his plea for an FIR against Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The special court had earlier held that it was not competent to adjudicate on issues related to citizenship.
The petitioner, a BJP worker from Karnataka, had sought registration of an FIR and a detailed probe into the matter, levelling allegations against Gandhi under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Official Secrets Act, the Foreigners Act and the Passport Act.
The complaint was initially filed before the special MP/MLA court in Rae Bareli. However, on the petitioner's request, the high court transferred the case to Lucknow on December 17, 2025.
The MP/MLA court in Lucknow subsequently dismissed the plea on January 28, 2026, prompting the petitioner to approach the high court, which has now ordered registration of an FIR.
In its order, the bench said that from a bare perusal of the allegations, prima facie cognizable offences were made out against Gandhi and hence the allegations required to be investigated.
The bench said that the special court should have looked into whether the allegations prima facie made out any cognizable offences or not, but it failed to consider it.
Earlier, Deputy Solicitor General of India SB Pandey produced the central government's records in the court relating to the citizenship controversy surrounding Gandhi.
Government counsel VK Singh also consented on behalf of the UP government that the allegations prima facie made out cognizable offences.
After having a detailed hearing, the bench found that the material on records showed that Gandhi had committed "cognizable offences" in having dual citizenship, and these allegations required to be probed.
The petitioner has alleged that Rahul is a UK Citizen and incorporated a company named M/S Backops Ltd in August 2003.
It was further submitted that Gandhi categorically admitted and voluntarily declared his nationality as British, having a Director Identification ID and London and Hampshire addresses.
In his petition, Shishir claimed that Rahul submitted the company's annual returns in October 2005 and October 2006, listing his nationality as British.
Thereafter, the company was dissolved through a dissolution application in February 2009.
According to the petitioner, the material placed before the court includes records suggesting that Rahul Gandhi may have been listed as a voter in the United Kingdom and participated in electoral processes there.
During the course of the hearing, the high court earlier directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to place all relevant records, including classified documents, before the court.
