The Supreme Court on Friday decided to examine a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Tamil Nadu Land Acquisition Laws (Revival of Operation, Amendment and Validation) Act, 2019.
A Bench, led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, issued notice to the State of Tamil Nadu on a petition filed by G. Mohan Rao and others, who contended that the law and its notification should be struck down as “unconstitutional, illegal and void”.
“The petitioners submit that the Act is violative of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013,” the petition said.
Senior advocate P. Wilson, who led the lawyers appearing in the case, said the 2019 Act was a means to revive the laws already struck down.
After hearing his submissions, the Bench posted the case for hearing on January 18, along with similar petitions on the State amendments to the 2013 Act.
‘Bits and pieces’
The petitioners said the agricultural lands owned by them were being acquired in “bits and pieces” for connectivity from the Ennore port to Mamallapuram under the Chennai Peripheral Ring Road Project. “Lands which are to be acquired under the Tamil Nadu Highways Act, 2001, are highly irrigated, and multiple crops are cultivated,” they said.
The petition said the purpose of the 2013 Act — to protect agriculturists and landowners from losing their land without reasonable compensation — was being defeated.
