The plea has asked the court to review its judgment allowing land acquisition for the highway, which will pass through the reserve forest land and agricultural lands.
A review plea has been filed in the apex court against its judgment that allowed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Union of India to acquire land for a 277-km-long Chennai-Krishnagiri-Salem green highway project. According to Bar and Bench, the petition filed states that the judgement passed by the Supreme Court will result in “miscarriage of justice” and that it needs to be reviewed.
The Supreme Court had, on December 8, 2020, ruled that the NHAI and the Centre can acquire land for the eight-lane highway project, an order that reversed the Madras High Court’s earlier ruling. The apex court had also said in its judgment that environmental clearances are not required by the government before expressing an intention to acquire land, and that affected persons and petitioners can voice their objections at a later stage and any environmental and forest clearances can then be challenged before appropriate forums.
The highway project—costing nearly Rs 10,000 crores and intended to cut travel time to Salem from Chennai by half — had been opposed by local residents and farmers, who feared losing their lands. Moreover, environmentalists were also objecting to the project since it will be running through reserve forest and water bodies, apart from agricultural lands.
Activists, advocates and politicians had filed petitions in the Madras High Court that had quashed the land acquisition process. The court concluded that environmental clearance was mandatory for the project since it would have an adverse impact on the environment. The project report submitted by the consultant was not satisfactory, the high court had said.
This highway (NH179A and NH179B) is a part of the first phase of the ‘Bharatmala Pariyojna’ project of the Union government. Stretched across 24,800 km across the country, Bharatmala Pariyojna is expected to improve the efficiency of cargo and passenger movement across India, according to authorities.
Source: The News Minute