The court emphasized the need to balance public interest with the rights and grievances of landowners, highlighting the importance of finding an amicable solution.

1. This appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 26.07.2012, made in W.P.No.17216 of 2012.

2. The appellant/writ petitioner is the Gas Authority of India Limited (hereinafter referred to as the 'GAIL) a public sector undertaking established as wholly owned company of Government of India. It is stated that the GAIL is a company engaged in exploration, protection, processing, transmission, distribution of natural gas and other related activities in India. It is further stated that in order to provide adequate infrastructure for the production and easy transportation of Natural Gas and Petroleum Products throughout the country, GAIL undertook to establish connectivity pipelines and also laid LPG pipelines across the country. It is stated that the advantages of City Gas Pipelines in the city of Delhi and Mumbai without any incident of any danger to the public is an example of how safe is GAIL's pipeline that too catering to the needs of several people in those Metropolitan Cities. The Government of India, through the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas formulated various gas/Petroleum Network Grid Pipe Line Projects and the work of establishing transmission pipelines was entrusted to the appellant. In order to facilitate the same, the Parliament enacted the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Rights of Users in Land) Act, 1962 (Central Act 50 of 1962) (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act'), which provides for acquisition of the rights of users in land for transportation of petroleum and other minerals. As per the scheme of the Act, wherever it appears to Government of India that it is necessary in public interest that for the transport of Natural Gas from one locality to another pipelines may be laid by the Government and for that purpose, it is necessary to acquire the right of the user in such land, it may by a notification in the official Gazette declare its intention to acquire the right of the user therein. The Act provides only for acquisition of the rights of the user of the land and not for the acquisition of the land itself. The Act empowers any person authorized by the Central Government or the Corporation which proposes to lay such pipelines to enter and survey such lands, to dig or bore into the subsoil, to set out the intended line of work and to survey such land. If any person has any objection for acquisition of such right of usage, they are entitled to make objection to the competent authority notified under Section 3 of the Act, who shall hold an enquiry and who may by an order allow or disallow their objection. Thereafter, the competent authority shall forward to the Government the order along with the relevant records for the Government to decide as to whether the right of user of the land is to be acquired. The Central Government may on the basis of such decision make a declaration under Section 6 and the right of user in the land shall from then on vest in the Central Government or on such Corporation proposing to lay pipelines, free from all encumbrances.

3. It is stated that the Government of India brought about a project, namely, Kochi-Koottanad-Mangalore-Bangalure Pipeline Project for laying of transmission lines through the States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The project is being executed by GAIL and by the said transmission lines, Natural Gas will be supplied and distributed to the household sectors, commercial sectors and transport sector by laying pipeline underground. It is stated that the total distance to be covered is more than 600 Kms. GAIL was accorded sanction by the Government of India to execute the said project and in order to facilitate the same in the State of Tamil Nadu, the Central Government by notification dated 04.04.2011, notified lands in the Districts of Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, Namakkal, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Salem. The objections were received from the land owners and from other interested persons and it is stated adjudic