Judicial review of highway alignment is limited to cases of mala fides or statutory violation. Where an Act provides a complete mechanism for objections and compensation, writ jurisdiction cannot be invoked while statutory remedies remain available.

O R D E R:

Petitioners contend that petitioner No.1 is the owner of landed property in Survey Nos. 256 and 257 of V. Venkatayapalem Village of Raghunadhapalem Mandal, Khammam District, Telangana, admeasuring 4,235 square yards abutting 100 feet Wyra Road, petitioner No.2 is the owner of landed property in Survey No.254 of the very same Village and Mandal admeasuring 1,642 square yards. Both of them contend that the said properties are worth more than Rs.20 crores in the open market and entire extent of their lands is expected to be completely consumed by the impugned highway alignment.

1.1. It is contended, the 1st respondent issued the impugned notification dated 29.07.2022 under Section 3A(1) of the National Highways Act, 1956 (for short, ‘the Act’), published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-I, Section 3, sub-section (2), by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, and also in Hans India English daily newspaper, Khammam Edition, inviting objections for acquisition of lands in V. Venkatayapalem Village for laying the proposed Green Field Highway from Khammam to Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, passing near the new District Offices Complex at V. Venkatayapalem Village on the outskirts of Khammam city. Petitioners further contend that the land owners were kept in the dark with regard to the details of the alignment as well as the particulars of the affected lands and that the brief particulars of the lands as required under Section 3A(2) of the Act were not furnished in the impugned notification, and that brief particulars cannot be equated with vague particulars.

1.2. The impugned notification was issued without taking into consideration the latest developments on the ground, namely, that Khammam Municipality was upgraded into a Municipal Corporation in the year 2012, that Khammam Urban Development Authority (K.U.D.A.) was formed, that Khammam town has expanded rapidly and seamlessly beyond V. Venkatayapalem Village over the last six years, and a District Offices Complex was constructed between V. Venkatayapalem Village and Khammam Town and inaugurated on 18.01.2023, wherein about 1,600 employees are working and several thousands of citizens visit the said offices daily, all of whom would be subjected to sound and air pollution if the Green Field Highway alignment passes through the said area.

1.3. Petitioners also contend that due to the construction of the integrated Khammam District Offices Complex, the entire surrounding area has become highly commercial in nature and several persons have purchased sites in the vicinity in anticipation of value appreciation without knowledge of the highway alignment, which, according to them, was kept secret by the NHAI. It is contended that the present alignment would swallow almost all commercial sites in its path and would separate the Khammam District Offices Complex from the main Khammam town.

1.4. It is further contended, the proposed highway passes as near as 150 feet from the District Offices Complex and about 200 meters from V. Venkatayapalem Village, while Khammam Municipal Corporation is situated at a distance of about 1 kilometer, and the NHAI has ignored all these factors. Petitioners also contend that V. Venkatayapalem Village is proposed to be included within Khammam Municipal Corporation and that, in such an event, the proposed highway would p