State responsible for delay in acquiring land for bullet train project: Godrej & Boyce tells HC

The company told Bombay high court that the procedure adopted by the state government was illegal and bad in law. It further claimed that the final compensation of ₹264 crores awarded to it was way lesser than ₹572 crores, which was initially offered to it for its land and hence urgent interim reliefs sought by it could not be denied on national interest grounds.

Mumbai The Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd has refuted the allegation leveled by the state government that it had a major role in delaying the land acquisition process for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project.

On Thursday, the division bench of justice Nitin Jamdar and justice Sharmila Deshmukh heard the petition filed by the company challenging an order of the state government for acquisition of its land in Vikhroli for the bullet train project. (HT PHOTO)

The company told Bombay high court that the procedure adopted by the state government was illegal and bad in law. It further claimed that the final compensation of ₹264 crores awarded to it was way lesser than ₹572 crores, which was initially offered to it for its land and hence urgent interim reliefs sought by it could not be denied on national interest grounds.

On Thursday, the division bench of justice Nitin Jamdar and justice Sharmila Deshmukh heard the petition filed by the company challenging an order of the state government for acquisition of its land in Vikhroli for the bullet train project. During the course of hearing, the bench was informed that the company had filed a rejoinder to the affidavit filed by the state government and the issue needed to be heard extensively. The court accepted the request and adjourned the hearing to November 21.

The affidavit filed by the company stated that the delay in acquiring land was not attributable to them as the state had taken two years for arriving at the award. The company stated that in such a scenario it was unacceptable for the state to now claim urgency for the project and blame it for the delay.

The company’s affidavit was in response to the allegations made by the state through an affidavit submitted before the HC in an earlier hearing. The state had alleged that the delay had caused losses to the state exchequer amounting to more than ₹1000 crore and hence the company should not be permitted to reap the benefits by allowing further delay in the acquisition of the land. The state had also opposed grant of any interim relief contending that it would jeopardize “national interest” as construction of the project will be delayed.

The company’s affidavit stated that failure to grant urgent relief would render the petition infructuous. “The failure to grant urgent interim relief would render the present petition infructuous as should the respondents acquire possession of the land and commence construction work for the purpose of bullet train project, irreparable injury would be caused to the petitioner’s property”, the affidavit stated.

The affidavit also pointed out that the issuance of award did not entitle the state to take possession of the petitioner’s property as the award was ex-facie illegal and null as no report bad been prepared detailing the approximate cost of land acquisition and hence the entire decision-making process was bad in law. “The compensation amount of ₹264 crores was a fraction of the initial ₹572 crores offered to the company for acquisition of the land…. There is non-application of mind while assessing the fair market value of the land in question,” states the affidavit.

The company also referred to the process of acquisition and said, “record clearly establishes that any substantial delay is attributable entirely to the respondents (state and NHSRCL). It was the respondents who grossly delayed the acquisition proceedings.”

The affidavit stated that urgent interim relief could not be denied on purported national interest grounds.