Serious flaws in decision-making, says High Court

“Considering the peculiar facts of the case, magnitude of the project, the proposed alignment which admittedly cuts across the Forest land, water bodies, big and small fertile agricultural lands etc., it is necessary that prior environmental clearance is required before the respondents proceed further, pursuant to the notification under Section 3A(1) of the Act,” held the division bench comprising Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice V Bhavani Subbaroyan said in its 117-page order.

The bench also came down heavily on the way in which the consultant for the project was appointed. Pointing out that the tender issued by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) calling for bids to offer consultancy services for Detailed Project Report (DPR) was for the Chennai-Tiruchy-Madurai Economic Corridor and not for the Chennai-Salem expressway, the bench said, “It is manifestly clear that there have been serious flaws in the decision-making process and those flaws goes to the root of the matter affecting the entire proceedings.”