The Uttarakhand High Court's decision striking down the law restricting purchase of agriculture land by outsiders to 250 square metres is likely to have far-reaching implications. According to observers here, the decision will force the Uttarakhand Government to rectify longstanding lacunae in the existing land law. The High Court had on Friday struck down the 2003 land law introduced by the then N.D. Tiwari Government under which outsiders were prohibited from buying over 250 square metres of agriculture land in the hill State. The Act was justified by the Congress Chief Minister as a move to protect local interests from being plundered by the wealthy outsiders. The farm lands however continued to be bought at throw away prices from innocent villagers and sold at exorbitant rates under proxy names. This loot was effectively checked subsequently by the BJP Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri who amended the law in 2007 providing that any purchase over 250 sq metres would require government sanction. But Mr Khanduri seemed to have inadvertently left out the requirement of a Cabinet clearance as in Himachal Pradesh. It is this lacuna that enabled a handful of corrupt officials and politicians to please people like yoga guru Ramdev whose Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust was allotted 50 hectares in Aurangabad, Shivdaspur alias Teliwala, Shantshah and Bahadrabad in 2008. His Patanjali Vishwavidyalaya Evam Yogpeeth Trust was given 115 hectares in Aurangabad/Shivdaspur alias Teliwala in Haridwar district vide an order in 2010. Reacting sharply, Avdhash Kaushal, chairperson of Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra, said the decision would tend to open up scarce agriculture land to those having black money who would first buy land at cheap rates and then sell it at a premium leaving the poor, middle and lower middle class Uttarakhandis gasping. Agriculture Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat is on record opposing diversion of the scarce prime farm land to industries. “Why can't they give waste lands for non-agriculture purposes?” the Minister says, seeking Special Agriculture Zones (SAZ) instead of Special Economic Zones.