The court upheld the authority of a transmission company to construct electric lines without landowner consent under relevant statutes, emphasizing public interest and necessity over individual property rights.

JUDGMENT:

(Per M. S. KARNIK)

1. Rule. The rule is made returnable forthwith at the request of and with the consent of the learned counsel for the parties.

2. The petitioner, invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India prays for a declaration that the Respondent no. 6 i.e. M/s. Goa Tamnar Transmission Project Limited (GTTPL for short) shall be entitled to carry out the work of establishment of a Transmission system for "Additional 400 KV feed to the State of Goa and Additional system for power evacuation from generation projects pooled at Raigarh (Tamnar) pool strictly along the existing 220 KV corridor line in Goa State after establishing 400 KV corridor connectivity between Mapusa and Sangod and 220 KV line between Sangod and Xeldem as per the directions contained in the Order dated 07.04.2022 passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Further, a declaration is sought that the present work carried out by the GTTPL is contrary to the Order dated 07.04.2022 of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, recommendations of Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and in the absence of approved alignment lines is per se illegal, null and void and unlawful. A further declaration is sought that the GTTPL has no right and is not entitled to enter into any part of the Petitioners’ properties at Amona Village other than the existing 220 KV corridor and a further declaration that they are not entitled to carry out any activity in or interfere with the Petitioners’ properties other than along the existing 220 KV corridor. The petitioners have prayed for other consequential reliefs.

3. Before we advert to the petitioners’ case, it would be profitable to right away refer to the observations of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in T. N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v/s. Union of India and Ors. - Writ Petition(s) (Civil) No.202/1995 dated 07.04.2022 having a material bearing on the controversy, which reads thus:-

“ The GTTPL is a transmission licensee selected through a tariff based competitive bidding (TBCB) process to establish Transmission system for a "Additional 400 Kv feed to the State of Goa and Additional System for power evacuation from generation projects pooled at Raigarh (Tamnar) Pool on Build, Own, Operate and Maintain (Boom) basis" (‘Project’ for short).

One of the key transmission elements forming part of the Project is the loop-in loop-out (LILO) of one circuit of the Narendra (Existing) Narendra (New) 400 Kv D/C quad line at Xeldem (NN Line for short). The NN Line passes through the States of Karnataka and Goa.

The Project connects the southern region (Sangod/Xeldem) with the Northern Goa region (Mapusa) through the NN Line.

By report No.6 of 2021, the CEC has made certain observations and recommendations relating to the Goa Tamnar Transmission project for laying of electric lines under the transmission scheme. CEC was of the opinion that the project proposed by the GTTPL would be detrimental to the fragile ecosystem of the Western Ghats.

CEC has examined the perm