The Bombay High Court on Tuesday allowed Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. to challenge the compensation of Rs264 crore awarded by the Deputy Collector (Land Acquisition) for 10 hectares of land in Vikhroli for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet train project. The compensation was awarded on September 15, 2022. Godrej has contended that the proceedings lapsed since the last hearing in 2020.
A division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sharmila Deshmukh was hearing an application filed by Maharashtra government seeking permission to deposit the amount with the Prothonotary and Senior Master of the high court. The state government cited a delay of almost four years in the project due to litigation by Godrej.
The application filed by the government through additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan prayed that they be allowed to deposit the compensation as “delay is resulting in loss of approximately Rs4,34,421 per day towards the interest”. The court directed the government to take steps “in accordance with law”.
The dispute over ownership of over 3,000acres of land has been pending between the government and Godrej since 1973.
The state government’s application reads, “The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor is the priority project of the Government of India undertaken by the NHSRCL, a government company set up under the Ministry of Railways, in partnership with Maharashtra and Gujarat governments.” The project comprises an undersea tunnel from the contested site in Vikhroli.
An application was filed by Godrej seeking to prevent the state government from implementing the acquisition award. It also sought to amend its petition filed in 2019 challenging the acquisition. It now seeks to challenge the compensation awarded, which has been allowed by the court.
Godrej has claimed that the deputy collector had given a hearing in July 2020, whereas the compensation order was passed only last month, after a delay of two years. Hence, the award was null.
“It is apparent that the entire proceedings for the acquisition of the plot have undisputedly lapsed in terms of section 25 of the Fair Compensation Act and hence the purported award is a nullity and void ab initio,” said the Godrej’s application.
However, Ms Chavan argued that as per the Fair Compensation Act the award has to be declared within a year, but there is a provision of extension. “We have granted this extension on two occasions,” she Chavan. The court has kept the matter for hearing next week.
