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Synopsis

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday ordered revised compensation to be paid to the 20 landowners whose land was acquired by the government for the construction of the Mumbai Trans Harbour Sea Link Project (Atal Setu), inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 12, 2023.

The division bench of Justice BP Colabawalla and Justice MM Sathaye was hearing the petitions filed by the owners of the 7 hectares of land that was acquired by the government.

The acquisition of land against the owners was initiated by the government under the Land Acquisition Act of 1984. 

The government authorities invoked the urgency clause, and therefore, no procedure of inquiry was followed.

Subsequently, the authorities issued a gazette notification in December 2012, and the award passed by the land acquisition authority was issued in April 2015, which came to be challenged before the high court.

The 2013 act stipulated that if an award was not passed under the 1984 act, then it was required to be passed within a year after the enforcement of the 2013 act. 

The acquisition authority could not pass the order until 2015, as the division bench of the high court at Aurangabad had stayed the proceedings.

The order was passed after a delay of one month, which exceeded the time stipulated by the 2013 act. Therefore, the bench concluded that the proceedings lapsed.

Consequently, the division bench directed the state land acquisition authorities to grant a fresh award for compensation by following the norms under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act, 2013.

The high court stated that petitioners had handed over the possession of their respective lands to the government, as they did not want to thwart an important project for the city and were only seeking compensation after the passing of an Award following the 2013 Act.

The bench further emphasized that the state government should carry out the process as expeditiously as possible.

"The petitioners will only be entitled to compensation for their lands which shall be determined by the State by passing a fresh Award after following the procedure and the provisions as laid down under the 2013 Act. The State shall carry out this process as expeditiously as possible, especially considering that the Petitioners have lost their valuable property quite some time back and yet haven’t received any compensation", the order said.

The bench further observed that though the urgency clause was invoked, no compensation was paid to the petitioners, and neither possession of the lands was taken until the filing of the above petitions.

"Though the urgency clause was invoked, until the passing of the Award, no compensation was paid to the Petitioners and neither possession of the lands was taken till the filing of the above Petitions. In the facts of the present case admittedly there has been 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 order reads.

Case title: Sandesh Vitthal Thakur & Ors vs State of Maharashtra & Ors