The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : "Writ petition against land acquisition cannot be allowed after passing award"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 24, 2007
ePaper


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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

"Writ petition against land acquisition cannot be allowed after passing award"

Special Correspondent

No provision to allot alternative land either, rules High Court

CHENNAI: Writ petition challenging land acquisition proceedings cannot be entertained after the award is passed, the Madras High Court has ruled.

Dismissing a petition, filed over two years after the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) passed the awards for the lands in Salem district, Justice V. Ramasubramanian said the Supreme Court had repeatedly held that courts should not entertain writ petition against land acquisition after the award was passed.

Sentimental attachment

R. Muthukumaraswamy, senior counsel for S. Ajay Venkatesh, sought an alternative land instead of cash compensation and submitted that the petitioner had a sentimental attachment with the land since his mother and grandmother were buried there.

Assistant Solicitor-General P. Wilson said there was no provision to allot alternative land in lieu of compensation and those sentimental values should give way to public interest. The challenge to the acquisition proceedings could be maintained at this stage.

Pointing out that the NHAI Act provides only for cash compensation, Mr. Justice Ramasubramanian said: "The Act does not even contain a provision for acquisition of land by negotiation. Therefore, there is no scope for the competent authority to act otherwise."

He further said if a statutory authority was obliged to perform a function in a particular manner by the statute, he should perform the same only in accordance with the statute and not otherwise. "Hence, there cannot be a direction to the NHAI to provide land to the petitioner in lieu of compensation, since there is no provision in the Act for the respondents to do so."

Public interest

As for the sentimental value of the acquired land, the Judge said: "Overwhelming public interest will have to take precedence over sentimental values of private individuals. This court has come across cases where even properties used as burial grounds or cemeteries were acquired for a public purpose."

Dates and events

Reiterating that the acquisition of a land for the National Highways can be objected only on well-established principles, Mr. Justice Ramasubramanian said the list of dates and events made it clear that the petitioner had come to court only after the awards were passed by the NHAI.

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