Madras HC orders land acquisition by TN government as illegal

In a set back to Tamil Nadu government's industrialisation development plans, the Madras High Court has quashed all the land acquisition by the state government since September 2013 under three laws.

The three legislations are -- the Tamil Nadu Acquisiton of Land for Industrial Purposes Act of 1997, Tamil Nadu Highways Act of 2001 and Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Harijan Welfare Scheme Act of 1978.

The court ordered as "unconstitutional" the amendment made to the central government act -- Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquistion Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 -- by enacting a state law -- Right to Fair Compensation and Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Tamil nadu) Act, 2014.

The court in its order on Wednesday exempted the lands that were acquired and has been put to use for the purpose for which they were acquired.

The order will have its impact on lands acquired for various projects and have not been put to use.

The central act exempted from the provisions of the act for land acquired for 13 purposes under Section 105. The Tamil Nadu government added Section 105A and added exemptions for land acquired for state highways, Harijan welfare and for industrial purposes.

The court said the central law would prevail in the case of difference between the central and state law. The three state laws for land acquisition were deemed to have become void once the central law was passed by the Parliament.