CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Monday quashed all notifications issued by various State and Central authorities for acquisition of land for the Rs 10,000 crore Chennai-Salem eight-way green corridor project. The division bench of Justices TS Sivagnanam and V Bhavani Subbaroyan was allowing a batch of writ petitions from affected farmers and others challenging the project.
The project, as conceived and sought to be implemented, is vitiated on several grounds and consequently, the notifications issued for acquisition of lands under Section 3A (1), are liable to be quashed, the bench said.
The judges added that all entries in the revenue records, which stood mutated, should be reversed in the names of the respective land owners and fresh orders should be issued and communicated to the respective land owners within 10 weeks.
If the Centre was still of the opinion the project was required to be implemented and if it passed through the required procedural formalities, then it was open to make a comprehensive study of the environmental impact, the bench said. “...if the project is allowed to be implemented without prior environmental clearance, it would be grossly in violation of the principles of sustainable development and would violate the provisions of Articles 19, 21, 46, 48A and 51A of the Constitution,” the bench said, adding that before seeking environmental clearance it was necessary a public hearing was held.
The judges pointed out that several interim orders of the HC had not been implemented. Hundreds of trees had been felled and no action was taken against those who illegally cut them down. Farmers, who had challenged the project, were harassed despite orders of the court, the bench regretted.
The bench said no record had been placed before it to show as to how the project was included in the Bharatmala Scheme. “...there has been non-application of mind to the facts and circumstances of the case while preparing the feasibility report by the consultant — Feed Back Infra... Therefore, its report should not be relied upon and needs to ‑be scrapped,” it said.
“...there have been serious flaws in the decision making process and those flaws goes to the root of the matter, affecting the entire proceedings,” the bench added.
‘Will continue to fight project’
One of the petitioners, Lok Sabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss, of PMK which is part of the AIADMK alliance said PMK would continue to fight against the project even as affected farmers celebrated the HC verdict.