HC orders compensation to villagers who lost their land to MTHL project

The Bombay High Court has ordered compensation for landowners in Jasai village who lost land to the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link project. The court quashed the compensation award granted under the 1894 land acquisition law and ordered compensation as per the 2013 law. The landowners had argued that the acquisition had lapsed as it was not completed within the statutory limitation. The court directed state authorities to pass fresh awards and complete the process quickly.

MUMBAI: In a relief to landowners, including farmers, of Jasai village in Raigad district who lost 8.66 hectares of land to the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project, the Bombay High Court (HC) on Tuesday ordered to grant them compensation as per a 2013 law. Therefore, it quashed the compensation award granted to them as per the 1894 land acquisition law.

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The division bench of justice BP Colabawalla and justice MM Sathaye said that though the acquisition was held to be lapsed, the lands will not be restored to the owners, as the project is already complete, and the landowners will be entitled only to compensation in accordance with provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

The bench was hearing separate petitions filed by several residents of Jasai village whose lands had been taken over by CIDCO for the MTHL project, but without payment of compensation to them.

The clarification came after counsel for the petitioners, advocate Rahul Thakur, informed the bench that possession of their lands had already been taken over by the authorities for construction of MTHL and the landowners did not wish to thwart the project, but were interested in securing fair compensation in accordance with the 2013 enactment.

Advocate Thakur argued that the acquisition had lapsed, as it was not completed in two years after the declaration of December 22, 2012, and therefore the award passed in April 2015 was null and void. He also pointed out provisions of the 2013 Act and submitted that the proceedings under the 1894 Act should have been completed by December 31, 2014 – within a year of the 2013 Act coming into force, and since the award was not passed within the statutory limitation, the proceedings had lapsed.

The bench accepted the argument advanced on behalf of the petitioners and held that the acquisition of their lands had lapsed, as held by the Supreme Court in the Gosikhurd Project’s case, as the award was passed beyond statutory limitation.

“In the facts of the present case admittedly there was no compliance of Section 17(3-A) and once this is the case, the land does not vest absolutely with the State and hence if the Award is not passed within the time frame as stipulated by law, the acquisition would lapse,” the bench said while holding that the acquisition had lapsed.

The court has now directed the state authorities to pass fresh awards and “complete the process as expeditiously as possible, especially considering that the Petitioners have lost their valuable properties quite long back and yet haven’t received any compensation.”