The Kerala High Court on Tuesday set aside the notification for acquisition of land from Manna Junction to Chala NH Bypass Junction for the Kannur city road improvement project.
The court issued the verdict while partially allowing a writ petition filed by Abdul Manaf and 13 other residents. It also quashed the recommendations of the expert group and directed the State government to constitute a new expert group. The court found that the constitution of the expert committee was not in accordance with the statute.
According to the petitioner, the procedure prescribed under the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Social Impact Assessment and Consent) [LARR] Act had not been followed while deciding on acquisition of land for widening roads.
The court also directed the government to actively consider laying down a procedure for hearing the affected as contemplated under Section 15 of the Act, which stipulates 60 days from the date of publication of the preliminary inspection under Section 11 for submission of objections.
