Salem expressway: HC gives thumbs up for Land Act, says

The Madras High Court Tuesday upheld the constitutional validity of the key provisions of a law under which land acquisition for the Tamil Nadu government's Salem-Chennai expressway was taken up, saying determination of compensation is more advantageous to the land owner.

Dismissing a public interest litigation (PIL) by a green non-governmental organisation (NGO), a division bench comprising Justices T S Sivagnanam and V Bhavani Subbaroyan upheld the constitutional validity of Section 105 and Fourth Schedule of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency (RFCT) in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

G Sundarrajan, one of the trustees of 'Poovulagin Nanbargal' sought declaration of RFCT Act, its Fourth Schedule as well as the entire land acquisition proceedings under the National Highways Act, 1956 in respect of the proposed Green Field Chennai Salem Highway in Tamil Nadu as unconstitutional, and null and void.

The bench in its order said, "If the prayer sought for by the petitioner to declare Section 105 as unconstitutional is granted, the land owners would be gravely prejudiced. This is so because the manner of determination of compensation is more advantageous to the land owner under the RFCT Act."