‘Clarify if Kancheepuram land is for 8-lane highway’

In a hearing that transpired via video conferencing with Justice T S Sivagnanam sitting at the principal seat and Justice Bhavani Subbarayan at the Madurai bench on Tuesday, the counsels appearing for the petitioners pointed out to the fresh notification saying that it was in defiance of the court orders which had ordered an interim stay on the dispossession of land from farmers for the controversial project.

However, G Karthikeyan, Assistant Solicitor General appearing for the Centre said that the notification was done as per 3A of the Land Acquisition Act, which trickles down to mere identification of the land for the project and that the 3D notification alone deals with land acquisition.

The bench on wondering as to why the project is undergoing such frequent changes from the earlier plan of constructing a road from Madurai to Chennai, directed the ASG to ensure that an affidavit clarifying about the new notification is filed.

However, the bench on facing practical difficulties in hearing through video conferencing as the Judge sitting in Madurai was not provided with the type set of papers, the bench decided to seek the Chief Justice to enable a sitting of the bench at the principal seat so that the hearing can be completed in two working days. Accordingly, it decided to hear the project proponent on December 14 and subsequently scheduled another hearing on December 17, wherein the petitioners can submit their replies.