MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently dismissed a petition filed by a private college in Madurai, challenging a notification issued by the special district revenue officer of the highways acquisition division of Madurai in July, for acquiring additional lands belonging to the college for the Goripalayam flyover project.
According to the order, which was passed by Justice PT Asha, the 130-year-old college situated near Goripalayam has nearly 12,000 students studying in a 45-acre campus. The grievance of the college administration is that no private notice was issued to them before the publication of the above notification.
It further argued that the power to acquire land under Section 15 (2) of the TN Highways Act, 2001 can be exercised only if the land is required for constructing highways. It also questioned the non-fixation of boundaries prior to the publication of the notification.
However, the government counsel for the state highways department contended that the additional lands were required for creating a service road for the flyover, and that it was mentioned in the notification that a meeting would be held on August 23 to hear objections.
However, the petitioner has moved the court without attending the meeting, he alleged. Hearing both sides, the judge opined that the non-issuance of private notice simultaneously has not affected the petitioner in any manner as they were aware of the contents of the public notice.
She also pointed out that it has been clearly specified in the notification that the lands were required for a highway, and dismissed the petition. Further, she told the petitioner college to submit the other objections they have with regard to the notification, to the authorities, and further directed the authorities to re-fix the date of inquiry on the objections.