HC strikes down notice by TMC directing developer to stop work on bullet train land

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday struck down a notice issued by the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), which had directed a developer to stop a construction project at Shil Phata near Mumbra.

The TMC had issued the notice in 2018, stating that a part of the land on which the developer, Atlanta Limited, was constructing the project, was meant for the Mumbai-ahmedabad bullet train project.

A division bench of justices SC Dharmadhikari and BP Colabawalla struck down the notice stating the authorities – the National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL) and the Thane district collector – can acquire the land required for the bullet train by resorting to the land acquisition law. The bench further stated that the construction project could not have been stopped without following due process of law to acquire the land.

TMC had issued the notice on May 2, 2018, asking Atlanta to stop work at the site, in view of the public notice issued by the Thane collector, declaring that part of the project land was required for the bullet train project.

Atlanta, however, contended that the survey numbers of their land at Shil Phata were not mentioned in the public notice and therefore, there was no reason for stopping the work at the site. It strongly objected to the approach of the land acquisition authorities to insist on acquiring the land by negotiations, without following procedure for land acquisition.

In its petition challenging the TMC notice, Atlanta stated that after obtaining the permissions from the authorities concerned, they constructed two stilt-plus-20 storied towers on the site and sold the flats in the towers, the occupancy certificates of which, were obtained from the TMC. The possession of flats were handed over to purchasers before the TMC issuedthestop-worknotice.

MP Thakur, additional government pleader, responding to the petition stated that 25.40 hectares of land from Thane tehsil is required for the bullet train, including land owned by Atlanta. However, it was inadvertently omitted in the public notice. An affidavit filed by the revenue officials stated that NHSRCL fixed compensation at ₹22.50 crore per hectare and instructed them to try and acquire the land through private negotiations.