The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an appeal challenging the Madras High Court's recent order which quashed the land acquisition proceedings initiated by the Centre and the state government for an expressway project.
A bench headed by Justice MR Shah posted the matter for hearing on June 3 after a counsel of the government mentioned the matter for an urgent hearing to stay the High Court verdict.
On April 8, a division bench of the Madras High Court had quashed the land acquisition after holding that environmental clearance was mandatory since the project would have an adverse impact on the environment, including water bodies. This judgement was passed by the court on a batch of petitions was filed by advocates, farmers and politicians.
The Rs 10,000 crore Chennai-Salem eight-lane greenfield expressway project proposed on a stretch of 277-km passes through agricultural as well as reserve forest land.
The project is part of the Centre's ambitious 'Bharatmala Pariyojana - I', which involves laying of around 35,000 km of national highways before 2022.
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