Bombay high court dismisses Godrej and Boyce petitions over bullet train land acquisition compensation

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Friday dismissed petitions filed by Mumbai's leading land owners, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited, which challenged two orders of state authority for land acquisition Mumbai in a tussle for commensurate compensation over a 10-acre plot of the company acquired for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. The company said it was given an appalling low compensation of Rs 264 crore and had applied for enhancement in compensation before Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority (LARRA) under the provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation law.In one petition the Company represented by senior counsel Vineet Naik and Bachubhai Munim challenged LARRA's order permitting the collectors to belatedly file a written statement. The HC division bench of Justices Manish Pitale and Shriram Shirsat after hearing AGP Dhruti Kapadia for atate and additional solicitor general (ASG) Anil Singh for National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) accepted the state's explanation for the delay that it had not set up a mechanism for the Collector and Deputy Collector to be appropriately represented before the LARRA yet.The second petition had challenged permission to NHSRCL to amend its written statement mid-hearing the claimant/petitioner. The HC accepted ASG's contention that the Supreme Court has repeatedly laid down that a hyper-technical approach ought not to be adopted.The HC said "All that (Godrej & Boyce) is now required to do is to contest the matter on merits and such a situation cannot be said to be prejudicial to it."The land that was acquired is Village Vikhroli, Mumbai, acquired by an award dated Sept 15, 2022. The company in 2019 challenged the acquisition process, but on Feb 9, 2023, the HC dismissed its petition. The company then went before the Supreme Court, which too on Feb 24, 2023, dismissed the special leave petition seeking permission to appeal but said the company's reference for enhancement of compensation be decided in six months, once filed.
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