Chandigarh, May 14 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has summoned deputy commissioners of three districts, after it was apprised by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) that three land parcels, acquired for various infrastructure projects including the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway, were taken back by the respective owners in the last one week. Two of the land parcels are in Malerkotla (175 metres) and Sangrur (70 metres), which were acquired for the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway, while the third is in Fazilka (1.77 km), required for the four-laning project of Abohar-Fazilka national highway section. In Malerkotla and Sangrur, the possession was taken back on May 10 while in Fazilka, the owner took it back on May 7. The details were given during the resumed hearing of a plea pending since 2023, when NHAI approached the court, alleging delay in execution of infrastructure projects and resultant cost escalation as the local authorities were not being able to acquire land in the given time frame. In April, the high court had summoned deputy commissioners (DCs) and senior superintendents of police (SSPs) of all districts in wake of the rising instances of possession being taken back by landowners in different parts of the state. Senior advocate and NHAI counsel, Chetan Mittal had told the court that necessary intimation had been given to the DCs and SSPs concerned and showed photographs depicting hindrances created on the piece of land. At one place, the NHAI contractor was forced to remove machinery, he informed the court. The bench of justice Sureshwar Thakur and justice Kuldeep Tiwari took serious note of the NHAI counsel's submissions and summoned the DCs of Malerkotla, Sangrur and Fazilka for Wednesday's hearing while observing that this kind of dispossession of the NHAI and inaction on the part of authorities would amount to contempt of the court order. As per the NHAI, the main corridor of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway will be completed by December 2026, and its connected link to Amritsar will be completed by December 2027, subject to the state providing adequate support system. As per the agency, it is executing a total of 36 projects in the state with a total length of 1,288.31 km. In 2023, when the high court took the cognisance of the matter, the total pending possession of 36 projects was 399.35 km, which has now come down to 18.29 km....