MADURAI
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday ordered status quo on the National Highways Authority of India’s notification for acquisition of lands for the proposed outer ring road project in Madurai.
Justice J. Nisha Banu ordered status quo on acquisition till October 8 and posted the case for further hearing. The NHAI had proposed an outer ring road connecting Thathampatti near Vadipatti on Dindigul highway with Manthikulam near Chathirapatti on Madurai-Natham highway.
The petitioner, K. Chellapandian of Madurai, complained that the NHAI notification issued on April 17 contained details of name of the village, nature of land, survey number and extent sought to be acquired. But the information was insufficient as the owners were not sure if their lands would be acquired for the project.
Without knowing whether their lands would be acquired, it would be difficult for landowners to raise objections over acquisition proceedings. The very object of publication of the notification was to provide a fair opportunity for effective objection to the acquisition, he said.
Calling the vague notification a “mockery,” the petitioner said without any option, he raised objection and called for additional details to be provided. Instead of hearing the case of the landowners, he said, the competent authority had sent them a consent letter in a standard format seeking their signature. Though the letter was rejected by the landowners on May 24, the objections over acquisitions were rejected, he said.
The petitioner said that the notification was against natural justice and sought appropriate steps against the takeover of lands for the project. He sought a stay against the notification issued by the NHAI and to quash it as illegal.