Chennai: In a major setback for Tamil Nadu government, the Madras high court on Monday quashed Chennai -Salem Greenfield corridor highway's land acquisition process.
The state government had in last year passed a government order to acquire the land for the eight way Chennai- Salem highway which triggered massive protests across many districts in northern Tamil Nadu since it affected agricultural lands and forest areas.
Many petitions were filed and PMK also filed one. Incidentally, PMK is a part of the AIADMK- led alliance now. The high court has quashed the order of Tamil Nadu government on land acquisition and stayed the process and also ordered that all the land that was acquired earlier should be returned within eight weeks with the necessary documents.
The state government, has however said that it will appeal against the verdict.
Meanwhile, the DMK took a jibe at the AIADMK-led alliance and asked if the PMK will walk out of the alliance if the Tamil Nadu government moves higher court challenging the verdict.
The Madras High Court observed that the project would have an adverse effect on the environment and the water bodies and it needed a mega realignment.
The eight lane project has been a pet project of the AIADMK but faced massive protests from the farmers. They claimed that they were forced to sell their land to the state government for a meagre compensation. The court took cognisance of the fact that the land acquisition for the project did not follow due procedures.
Comments
0 comment