Sudhir Agarwal, J. - (1.) 'Prayagraj' has an old historicity tracing back to Vedic period. Lord Rama while in exile, rested in Rishi Bharadwaj Ashrama, on the bank of river Ganga. It is also known for King Harshvardhana, who used to come every twelve years to donate his entire wealth to needy and poor people. From the time of Lord Buddha, it is also a well known centre of education which continued when Allahabad University was founded on 23rd September, 1887 and reached its glory called "Oxford of East". A large number of social Reformers, Literary Scholars and Political personalities have their birth place at Allahabad. In 1575, when Akbar came to Allahabad and built a big fort, he was so fascinated by cultural, spiritual and also strategic location that he named it as "Abode of God" i.e. "Alhabas", which later changed to Allahabad under Shah Jahan and now again as 'Prayagraj'. City lies close to "three-river confluence" i.e. Triveni Sangam, Originally known as "Prayag" i.e. place of sacrifice or offering. It plays a central role in Hindu Scriptures. The city was also called Kaushambi (now a separate district) by Kuru rulers of Hastinapur, who developed it as their capital. In 17th century under the reign of Jahangir, it was a Provincial capital. In 1580, Akbar created "Subah of Ilahabas" with Allahabad as its capital. In mid 1600, Salim had made an abortive attempt to seize Agra's treasury and came to Allahabad, seizing its treasury and setting himself up as a virtually independent Ruler. He however, reconciled with Akbar and returned to Allahabad where he stayed before returning to Royal Court in 1604. In 1833, it became the seat of ceded and conquered Provinces region before its capital was moved to Agra in 1835. Allahabad became the capital of North-Western Provinces in 1858 and was capital of India for a day. It was capital of United Provinces from 1902 to 1920. It had remained at the forefront of national importance during struggle for Indian independence and even thereafter till date. It has given three strong and most popular Prime Minister to the country namely Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, Smt. Indira Gandhi and Sri Vishwanath Pratap Singh.
(2.) Geographically, it lies at peninsula of Island having on three sides, two major rivers of India namely Ganga and Yamuna. During British period, they developed it as a strong military centre and what we called today "Civil Lines Area", was developed as Civil Station for civilians having huge land which was owned by Government in the form of Nazul. At that time, the then Government allotted land on long lease to its well wishers and others to oblige and otherwise pamper. The terms of lease though given enough control to Government towards its title but premium and rent was almost negligible. With the passage of time, population influx from nearby rural area increased number of local inhabitant multifold causing huge scarcity of land availability in the city.
(3.) Recently newly elected Central Government evolved a policy of developing various cities as 'Smart City' and for this purpose Allahabad, (now named as 'Prayagraj'), is also chosen to be developed as 'Smart City'. This has resulted in demand of huge land by various Government departments for own establishments necessary to develop the city as 'Smart City'. Since most of the State's land is in the hands of individuals, it has given rise to a virtual clash of interest and this High Court is witnessing a lot of litigations on this account.;