A legal hurdle for India's first high-speed bullet train, between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, was cleared on Thursday with the Gujarat High Court rejecting more than 100 petitions of farmers who had challenged the land acquisition process and demanded higher compensation.
The judgment was delivered by a bench of Justice Anant Dave and Justice Biren Vaishnav.
The High Court observed that Gujarat's amendment in 2016 to the Centre's Land Acquisition law is valid. The High Court also said that the Social Impact Assessment process carried out under Japan International Cooperation Agency guidelines was apt and satisfactory.
It also observed that the state giving a go-bye to the Central law's provisions of social impact assessment and, rehabilitation and resettlement before all project was legal.
Anand Yagnik, advocate of the farmers, said that the farmers will now move the Supreme Court.
It had all begun with five farmers of Surat district filing petitions in the High Court. While these farmers later withdrew their petitions, several other farmers—in hundreds—filed petitions.
They had objected to the land acquisition and had demanded that their compensation be computed in line with the central government's land acquisition law, after assessing the socio-economic impact of the project on the affected persons. The farmers were also demanding prevalent market rates.
The project, which costs more than 1.10 lakh crore rupees, is expected to be completed by December 2023.
A few days ago, Achal Khare, managing director of National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited, had said that out of the 1380 hectare land required for the project, they had already acquired 622 hectare.
A spokesperson of the NHSRCL said that out of the 61 petitions filed in the High Court, 59 were dismissed today. He said that in Gujarat, the NHSRCL is giving 6.5 times the published jantri rate as compensation.
According to him, more than 50 per cent of the required land has been already acquired in Gujarat.
Reacting to the judgment, Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda said that while development is welcomed, the farmers should be compensated in an adequate manner.
Contracts for the civil works are expected to be awarded by the end of current financial year.