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The Times of India
The Times of India
National
Swati Deshpande | TNN

Godrej & Boyce creating 'unnecessary hurdles' in land acquisition for Bullet Train project: Maharashtra govt to HC

MUMBAI: Bombay high court on Tuesday said there is no urgency to pass interim orders in a petition filed by Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing CO Ltd, Mumbai’s largest private landlords, challenging the Rs 264 crore compensation award for acquisition of its land at Vikhroli for the Bullet train project after state said no notice for possession has yet been issued.

Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor project, is 534 km long with a 21 km under-sea tunnel and is proposed to open in December 2023 to serve initially almost 18,000 people daily.

The state in its reply to the petition claimed the company "had left no stone unturned to create unnecessary hurdles and impediments at every stage of the acquisition proceedings to ensure that the said acquisition proceedings lapse."

Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni informed the HC on Tuesday that it has already deposited the entire compensation amount with the land acquisition authority located at Aurangabad but no notice has yet been issued for taking actual possession of the Vikhroli land.

The HC bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sharmila Deshmukh recording the state’s submission said if notice is issued adequate time be given to enable Godrej to pursue legal action. The matter will now be heard on November 10.

Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd, has challenged the acquisition award of September 15, 2022 and also sought a declaration from the HC that a provision under the Fair compensation Act permitting the State to extend the time in issuing the land acquisition award (order) is unconstitutional and hence all actions taken by the State to acquire its land is illegal.

The company said the acquisition proceedings had lapsed as the order was passed two years after the July 2020 hearing. It also said it was deprived of an opportunity to make a proper representation during the acquisition process as certain documents were not shared with it.

But the State reply by deputy collector (land acquisition) said all allegations made by Godrej & Boyce are “frivolous, baseless, unwarranted and unsubstantiated’’. It said the issue of constitutionality of the Land Acquisition Act provision does not arise in this matter.

The State filed an affidavit and said a stark example of the hurdle caused by the company is that "after suggesting alternate site for acquisition…objected for modification which caused a lot of delay."

The project is a "priority project" of the Centre undertaken in collaboration with States of Maharashtra and Gujarat with financial aid from Japan International Corporation Agency.

The state's reply said its authorities made every effort to ensure the project is free from hurdles and "even catered to the whims and fancies of the petitioner company" but added, "yet, the petitioner’s unreasonable demands are ever increasing as per their caprice" leading to a project cost escalation "by more than Rs 1,000 crore" .

It said negotiations for an amicable resolution had failed in the dispute pending since 2019.

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