IMPORTANT POINT
The District Collector acted within authority as 'appropriate Government' in land acquisition, following legal procedures, thus balancing public interest against individual rights.

JUDGMENT :

The petitioner, a Non Resident Indian, is the owner in possession of 0.7807 Hectares of garden land comprised in R.S. Nos.128/1, 128/2A and 128/2B of Panoor Village, Thalasseri Taluk, Kannur District. He states that he has purchased the said properties for the purpose of construction of a multi storied commercial cum special residential building at an estimated cost of INR 64.0 crores. He applied for building permit for construction of the proposed building before the Panoor Municipality and the District Town Planner approved the layout for construction of 29050 sq. metres of building. No Objection Certificate from the Fire and Rescue Department was also obtained. His application for environmental clearance is pending before the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority. He had already invested considerable amount for clearing the site, preparation of plan and design, permits and statutory clearance for the proposed construction.

2. The District Collector, Kannur, the 2^nd respondent, as per Ext. P2 proceedings dated 05.10.2016, appointed Kannur Association for Integrated Rural Organisation and Support (KAIROS), Kannur, the 6^th respondent and another agency by name VIGIL, Mattanur for conducting Social Impact Assessment Studies in accordance with the provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (for short, 'the RFCTLARR Act') and to submit time bound reports. In Ext. P2, the District Collector ordered that, in all new land acquisition cases under the RFCTLARR Act in the district, the conduct of Social Impact Assessment studies must be entrusted to these two agencies.

3. The petitioner states that appointment of KAIROS as the Social Impact Assessment Unit (SIA Unit) vide Ext. P2 is per se illegal inasmuch as under Rule 9 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Kerala) Rules, 2015 (for short 'the RFCTLARR (Kerala) Rules'), only the Government can accredit and empanel SIA Units. Referring to Ext. P3 Certificate of Registration, By-laws and Memorandum of Association of KAIROS, it is contended that it is purely a community controlled organization of persons professing a particular religion and comprised of persons who have no experience in conducting Social Impact Assessment of any projects.

4. Ext. P4 notification dated 04.11.2019 was issued by the District Collector, Kannur, the 2^nd respondent proposing to acquire 0.8418 Hectares of land situated in R.S. No.6/3A of Peringalam Village in Panoor Municipality for the purpose of expansion of Community Health Centre, Panoor and appointed KAIROS as the SIA Unit for conducting Social Impact Assessment Study and to file report. The KAIROS submitted Ext. P5 report dated 15.01.2020 stating that the proposed land is suitable for expansion of Community Health Centre and no alternate land need be considered for acquisition. However, the 2^nd respondent did not proceed with acquisition of the said property at Peringalam Village.

5. While so, on 05.08.2020, the Government issued Ext. P6 order according sanction to the District Collector to acquire 78.7 Ares of land situated in R.S. Nos.128/1, 128/2A and 128/2B of Panoor Village, owned by the petitioner for the development of Panoor Taluk Hospital invoking the provisions of the RFCTLARR Act. Pursuant thereto, the District Collector, by Ext. P7 notification dated 28.09.2020, issued in exercise of the powers under Section 4(1) of the RFCTLARR Act, appointed the 6^th respondent KAIROS as the SIA Unit for preparation of Social Impact Assessment Study. Ext. P8 dated 19.10.2020 is the report submitted by the KAIROS.

6. The petitioner states that the observations in Ext. P8 report are not genuine and he did not get any notice of public hearing and that the notice was not published as per Rule 8 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Soci