A vacation bench comprising Justices Indu Malhotra and M.R. Shah, however, issued notices to the parties, including the Tamil Nadu government, on the appeal of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which had challenged the High Court order. Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the Madras High Court order quashing the land acquisition process for the ₹10,000-crore Salem-Chennai eight-lane greenfield corridor project.
“We are going to issue notices on the special leave petition (SLP)…We are not going to stay the High Court’s order,” it said while declining the plea of the Project Implementation Unit of NHAI that the High Court order be stayed.
The NHAI had moved the top court on May 31 and the Bench had then agreed to hear the appeal.
The High Court had held that environmental clearance was mandatory for the sensitive project.
The High Court’s order came on a batch of petitions filed by 35 landowners and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss. The pleas had challenged the land acquisition proceedings.
The High Court had made it clear that grant of prior environmental clearance would undoubtedly require a thorough study of the area, and before that, a public hearing was needed.
The ambitious 277.3-km-long eight-lane greenfield project connecting Salem and Chennai under the Centre’s Bharatmala Pariyojana aims to cut travel time between the two cities by half to about 2 hours and 15 minutes.
However, it has been facing opposition from a section of locals, including farmers, over fears they would lose their land, besides from environmentalists, who are against the felling of trees for the project. The project runs through reserve forests and waterbodies.
SC refuses Madras HC’s order to stay Salem-Chennai eight-lane greenfield corridor project
