Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train dream project of national importance, says HC; dismisses Godrej & Boyce plea against land acquisition

The MumbaiAhmedabad bullet train is a dream project of this country and of national importance and in public interest the Bombay High Court said on Thursday dismissing a petition filed by Godrej amp Boyce company challenging acquisition proceedings initiated by the Maharashtra government and the NHSRCL in Mumbais Vikhroli area for the projectA division bench of Justices R D Dhanuka and M M Sathaye said the project was oneofitskind and collective interest would prevail over private interestThe court said in cases of conflict on inter fundamental rights and intra fundamental rights the court has to examine as to where lies the larger public interest while balancing the two conflicting rightsIt is the paramount collective interest which would ultimately prevail In the facts of this case the private interest claimed by the petitioner does not prevail over the public interest which would subserve infrastructural project of public importance which is a dream project of this country and first of its kind it saidAlso read PM Modis Mumbai visit on Feb 10 Traffic to be hit in parts of city check advisory and which routes to avoidIn our view the bullet train project is an infrastructural project of national importance a large numbers of public would be benefited and would have saved other benefits for betterment of this country the court saidOf the total 50817 kilometres of rail track between Mumbai and Ahmedabad about 21 km is planned to be underground One of the entry points to the underground tunnel falls on the land in Vikhroli owned by GodrejThe state government and the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited NHSRCL had claimed the company was delaying the entire project which was of public importanceThe bench in its judgment said the provisions of the Fair Compensation Act empowers the government to take the acquisition proceedings already initiated to its logical conclusionThe court also refused to accept Godrejs contention that the compensation was initially decided to be Rs 572 crore but was reduced to Rs 264 crore when the final award was passedThe compensation derived at the stage of private negotiation cannot be considered as final and binding since the said private negotiation had admittedly failed HC saidThe authorities had told the HC the acquisition process of the entire line for the MumbaiAhmedabad bullet train project was complete except the land owned by Godrej amp Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited in Vikhroli areaThe company and the government have been embroiled in a legal dispute over acquisition of the companyowned land in Vikhroli area of Mumbai for the bullet train project since 2019The state government had earlier informed the court it has already deposited the compensation amount of Rs 264 crore awarded to the company in October last yearThe Godrej amp Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd had filed a petition challenging an order of September 15 2022 passed by the Maharashtra government awarding compensation to it for land acquisition for the bullet train projectIt had termed the land acquisition proceedings initiated by the state government as unlawful and claimed there were multiple and patent illegalities in the sameThe HC bench however said it has not found any illegality in the compensation or proceedings initiated by the authorities We have not found any illegality in the compensation it saidThe company has not made out a case for the court to exercise its powers and hence no interference is required it addedSenior counsel Navroz Seervai appearing for the company sought the HC to stay its order for a period of two weeks so that they could approach the Supreme Court in appeal The bench however refused to stay its orderThe company had earlier sought the HC to direct the state government not to proceed towards the award passed and initiation possession proceedingsIt said the award granted by the government was ex facie illegal and hence a nullityIt also refuted the allegations made by the government and the NHSRCL that the company was causing unnecessary delay in the projectThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever