Public interest outweighs private interest in the Bullet Train Project which is of National Importance : Bombay High Court rejects the plea of Godrej & Boyce against land acquisition.
Godrej’s appeal against the state government’s acquisition of its Vikhroli land for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project was denied by the Bombay High Court. The judgement of the case namely, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd. V. The State of Maharashtra and Ors. ( Writ Petition No.3537 OF 2019) was pronounced by Justice R D Dhanuka and M M Sathaye on Thursday, the 9th of February 2023.
FACTS OF THE CASE :
The Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited’s appeal against the Maharashtra government’s decision to pay the company Rs 264 crore for the acquisition of its land for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project was denied by the Bombay High Court on Thursday.
The corporation had contested the Maharashtra government’s land acquisition procedures, arguing that the final award of Rs 264 crore was significantly less than the Rs 572 crore the government had initially offered it for land acquisition.
On September 15, the company contested the Rs 264 crore compensation award made in exchange for selling 39,252 sq m (9.69 acres) of its land. The argument contested the 2013 Land Acquisition Act modification that exempted the bullet train project from the professional social effect assessment.
JUDGEMENT:
The Bench has held that, “The petitioner has not made out a case for us to exercise our powers. It is the paramount collective interest that would prevail and not private interest. (The) project would be the first of its kind. Petition is dismissed”.
The bench rejected the company’s request for a two-week extension so it could file an appeal with the Supreme Court. In order to retain the status quo, the firm claimed that once the land is taken away, its appeal would be rendered infructuous.
The initiative is unique, significant nationally, and in the public interest, according to the court, which also stated that the “public collective interest prevailed over personal interest.”
The Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited’s appeal against the Maharashtra government’s decision to pay the company Rs 264 crore for the acquisition of its land for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project was thus denied by the Bombay High Court on terms of national importance and protecting public interest over private interests.
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JUDGEMENT REVIEWED BY SREYA MARY.