Madras HC hits the brakes on Kilambakkam terminus skywalk over DMK MP's plea

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court ordered a stay on the skywalk project connecting Kalaignar Centenary Bus Terminus (KCBT), Kilambakkam, with suburban railway station, by allowing DMK MP S Jagathrakshagan’s plea against the land acquisition proceedings in the project.

The land acquisition process stands vitiated due to the non-compliance of mandate under Sections 11 (1) and 15 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, held Justice N Anand Venkatesh, while allowing the private petition moved by the DMK MP on behalf of the Premier Leather Corporation.

The notification for the land acquisition must be published in the Tamil Nadu gazette under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act. However, in this case, the collector of Chengalpattu commenced the proceedings without publishing the notification, and hence, it is unsustainable before the law, added the judge.

In the petition, it was submitted that the Chengalpattu administration earmarked 1.384 acres of vacant land belonging to the petitioner company at Kilambakkam for the sky walk project to connect the bus terminus and railway station.

The collector, without consenting with the State, declared the earmarked land for the skywalk project, which is against the Land Acquisition Act, said the petitioner. Furthermore, pillars only need to be erected on the land, not the entire extent of land needed for the project, the petitioner further noted.

Seeking to quash the notification, senior counsel Abudu Kumar Rajaratnam, on behalf of the petitioner, submitted that the government alone should publish the preliminary notification in the official gazette, but in this case, the notification was only published in Chengalpattu gazette; hence, it breaches the provisions of the Land Acquisition act.