The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the notification for acquisition of land for theRs 10,000-crore Chennai-Salem eight-lane green corridor project and said that the Centre and NHAI may proceed to acquire land for constriction of the highway.
The top court, in its verdict, however, dismissed the appeal of land owners against the acquisition of their land for the project.
The apex court’s verdict came on a batch of appeals filed by the Centre and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and few land owners and others including PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss.
These pleas were filed against the Madras High Court’s judgement, delivered on April 8, 2019, holding as “illegal and bad in law” the notifications issued under Section 3A(1) of the National Highways Act for acquisition of specified lands for construction of the new highway which was part of the larger ‘Bharatmala Pariyojna– Phase I5’ project.
A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar, B R Gavai and Krishna Murari partly allowed the appeals of the Centre and the NHAI to the extent of quashing of the notification to acquire land for the highway project by the Madras High Court and gave its nod to again proceed with the process.
“The impugned judgment and order is modified. The challenge to impugned notifications under Sections 2(2) and 3A of the 1956 Act, respectively, is negative. The Central Government and/or NHAI may proceed further in the matter in accordance with law for acquisition of notified lands for construction of a national highway for the proposed section/stretch,” the judge.
The ambitious 277.3-km-long eight-lane greenfield project aims to cut travel time between the two cities Chennai and Salem half to about two hours and 15 minutes
However, i t has been facing opposition from a section of locals, including farmers, over fears of losing their land, besides environmentalists who are against felling trees for it.