HC allows Metro’s add’l land acquisition, directs compensating land losers

Kolkata: Allowing land acquisition by metro rail authorities in the Alipore area for the Joka-BBD Bag metro corridor, the Calcutta High Court directed compensation for land losers (tenants & sub-tenants) even though the owner of the property acquired was already compensated.

The bench of Justice Aniruddha Roy was moved by the writ petitioners (land losers) who challenged the acquisition of additional land which they argued was not being acquired for the larger public interest but for private interest.

For the construction of railway track between Mominpur (Ex) to Esplanade Section of Joka – BBD Bag Metro Corridor, the Metro first acquired 105.326 sq mtr. land from the property concerned. To this, the petitioners had no objection.

However, they objected to the second acquisition of 532.634 sq mtr land from the same property by Metro to compensate the Consulate General of Nepal since a portion of the consulate’s office was necessary for the project.

The private agreement between Metro authorities and consulate was struck with the intervention of the Ministry of External Affairs.

The petitioners objected to this private agreement. Their counsel said this was in clear breach and violation of the provisions relating to the acquisition of land under the said 1978 Act.

Power under Eminent Domain cannot be overstretched to legitimize patently illegal and fraudulent exercises undertaken to deprive the land owners of their constitutional right to property.

Counsel for Metro authorities mentioned under the Act the acquisition of further land is allowed under the definition of “connected works”. Without this, the project could not be executed. The court held that the right of eminent domain exercised by a state for the larger public interest would prevail over the Constitutional right to property of private landowners under Article 300A of the Constitution.

Accordingly, the court allowed the acquisition but directed the authorities to conduct a hearing with the petitioners to fix the fair rate of compensation in exchange for their land.