There is good news about the country’s first bullet train (Mumbai-Ahmedabad) project. Maharashtra government has acquired almost the entire land for the bullet train. Only one piece of land is yet to be acquired by Godrej & Boyce. The Maharashtra government has given information in this regard to the Bombay High Court. The government said that the land acquisition process has been completed along the entire line except for a plot owned by Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited in suburban Vikhroli. The Advocate General of Maharashtra said this while hearing a petition filed by Godrej & Boyce against land acquisition in Mumbai.
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni told the court that the entire land required for the project is from Bombay to Ahmedabad. Complete acquisition of land (owned by Godrej) except for this issue. Godrej is the only part of the land which is not in the possession of the State Government and the remaining land has already been acquired. Besides Godrej, the state and central governments have already filed replies. He said that the hearing on this application should be started soon. The state government has completed all the formalities for acquisition and now only possession of the land remains. Godrej’s land was the only part that was not in possession of the state and the rest of the land had already been acquired.
At the same time, Advocate Navroz Servai, appearing for Godrej, termed the state government’s land acquisition process as ‘illegal’ and claimed that there are many other patent illegalities in the process. The agency denied allegations leveled against the state government and the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited that it was creating unnecessary hurdles in the land acquisition process and hence delaying the project. Godrej said the state and NHSRCL caused considerable delay in the acquisition process.
Servai said that since there was a ‘major constitutional challenge’ that needed to be argued, he would take at least 4-5 hours to finish his arguments. He further said- the company had also filed an application in writ petition for disclosure of documents and records of the state to decide about the plot of land acquired for the project. Servai has claimed that something has been disclosed before the Gujarat High Court, on which he will rely in the present petition.
The company has filed an affidavit
Let it be known that earlier Godrej Company had filed an affidavit in the High Court. It said- ‘The attempt of the respondents to hold the petitioner (Godrej) responsible for the delay in the acquisition process is bad, perverse and inexcusable.’ The affidavit states that the officers failed to meet the mandatory statutory requirements of the Fair Compensation Act. According to the company, no report detailing the estimated cost of land acquisition was prepared and therefore the entire decision-making process was vitiated in law. It added that the final compensation of Rs 264 crore paid to the company for land acquisition is a fraction of the initial Rs 572 crore. The affidavit said, ‘Mind was not applied while estimating the fair market value of the land in question.
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(tagstotranslate)Bullet Train