Allahabad, Oct 21 (IANS): The Allahabad High Court Friday ordered cancellation of acquisition of all land in two Greater Noida villages and one in Noida. It also raised compensation to farmers in 60 other villages by 64 percent.

It further called for immediate suspension of all construction and urbanization activity in 40 villages of Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh until a clearance was obtained from an officer of the rank of principal secretary that the work was in accordance with the norms laid down by the National Capital Region (NCR) Board.

The special bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan -- and also comprising Justice S.U. Khan and Justice V.K. Shukla -- rejected 19 other petitions moved on behalf of farmers of two other villages as these were "time-barred".

The villages for which land acquisition has been cancelled are Chak Shahberi, Abdullapur and Devla.

As per the verdict, the farmers of 60 villages would be now entitled to 64 percent higher compensation than what they were given at the time of the acquisition. In addition, the Greater Noida authority has also been directed to return part of the acquired land in the form of developed land to every farmer whose land was acquired.

"The area of developed land to be given to the farmers would be worked out on the basis of total land acquired, subject to a maximum of 2,050 sq yards," said an official spokesman.

Reacting to the judgment, farmers' counsel Lalji Thakur told mediapersons: "We welcome the court's decision to increase the compensation, but we still feel that acquisition in several villages needs to be scrapped."

He did not rule out the possibility of moving the apex court.

"A final decision on making an appeal to the Supreme Court would be taken only after I have had a detailed discussion with my farmer clients," he said.