New Delhi, Sep 4 - The Delhi High Court Friday ruled that a piece of land acquired by the government to set up the Badarpur police station on Delhi's border with Haryana was legal since it was for a public purpose.

The court was hearing a petition challenging the acquisition of the land by its owners. The land on which the police station had existed earlier was taken over by the National Highways Authority of India for constructing an elevated corridor linking Delhi and Faridabad.

A division bench comprising Justices Vikramjit Sen and V.K.Jain, while dismissing the plea of the land's owner Ajit Kumar Sanghi, said: 'It cannot be denied that (the) land in question, which has been found most suitable for the police station, after inspecting a number of sites, was urgently required by the government.'

'Therefore, invoking the emergency powers of Land Acquisition Act was eminently justified in this case,' the bench said.

The court rejected the petitioner's argument that the acquisition was illegal and said: 'Requirement of land for construction of a police station is undisputedly a public purpose.'

Referring to the earlier location of the police station, the court added: '(As the) Land on which the building of the police station presently stands constructed is urgently required for (a) six-lane elevated highway, the government has to immediately provide land for construction of another building to house the police station.