Court cannot impose a time limit on land acquisition proceedings due to ongoing complexities and challenges faced by authorities.

ORDER

The relief sought for in this writ petition is to direct the respondents to conclude the Land Acquisition Proceeding in Na.Ka.No.8123/2018/B1 dated 02.04.2018 and award compensation as per the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 as per the time stipulated under the Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act, 1997 .

2. The case of the petitioners is that they are the absolute owners of various vacant lands situated at Sikkanampatti Village, Salem. The said lands were acquired by the Government for the purpose of expansion of Salem Airport and formation of Maintenance and Training Centre. The second respondent had issued a notification for Acquisition of land under the Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act, 1997 and the petitioners had received letters dated 02.04.2018 and 24.04.2018 bearing Document No.Na.Ka.No.8123/2018/B1 to present any objection if any. Pursuant thereo, the third petitioner made his objection before the first respondent on behalf of all the petitioners and claimed compensation under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 . Thereafter, final order of acquisition was made vide the Tamil Nadu Gazette Notification dated 04.06.2019, however the respondents have not taken any initiative to pay compensation to the petitioners. Therefore, on 12.02.2024, the third petitioner made a representation before the respondents 1 to 5, requesting to conclude the land acquisition proceedings and grant the compensation due. On 22.04.2024, the A.P.A.(Lands) had issued a reply to the third petitioner stating that the compensation shall be decided according to the Government Rules. It has been five years since the commencement of Land Acquisition proceedings and so far the petitioners have been unable to enjoy the benefits arising from the lands. Hence, the petitioners have come forward with the present writ petition.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that this Court may direct the respondents to fix a time limit to complete the land acquisition proceedings for the expansion of Salem Airport and formation of Maintenance and Training Center.

4. Learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the respondents 1 to 4 submitted that for acquisition of aforesaid lands, preliminary notice was issued under Section 3(2) of the Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act, 1997 and called for objection if any. After receiving the objections, the concerned authority is under the process of acquiring the lands for the expansion of Salem Airport.

5. Heard the learned counsel on either side and perused the materials available on record.

6. As contended by the learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the respondents 1 to 4, the concerned authority is under the process of acquiring the lands, after receiving objections from the parties concerned. Hence, this Court cannot fix any time limit for the completion of acquisition proceedings, since the concerned authority is facing lot of problems in acquiring the lands. Therefore, in the course of time, the said exercise will be completed and thereafter, the compensation will be fixed. Hence, filing the writ petition, in this stage is pre-mature.

Accordingly, this writ petition stands dismissed. No costs.