Kochi: The High Court of Kerala has suspended land acquisition for the greenfield airport near Sabarimala hill shrine on dispute over move to buy land more than required, media reports said.
Hearing a petition against the Government move, the court on December 19 ruled that the state had failed to determine the actual required land for the project as mandated by law and struck down key stages of the land acquisition process.
The court observed that the government failed to properly assess the “absolute bare minimum” land needed under the 2013 Land Acquisition Act.
The court ordered a fresh Social Impact Assessment (SIA) with expert involvement.
The government had planned to acquire 2,570 acres of land for the project.
Hearing the petition disputing the government order, the court directed that the study be strictly limited to evaluating the “absolute bare minimum” land required for the project.
The court directed the state government to do the acquisition process from the start by conducting Social Impact Assessment (SIA) afresh.
On December 30, 2022, the state government gave its nod for the acquisition of 2,570 acres of land.
The single bench gave the order on December 19 while allowing a writ petition filed by Ayana Charitable Trust (formerly Gospel for Asia) and its managing trustee Dr Siny Punnoose.
The plea argued that the decision-making process under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 was legally deficient.
The petitioners had challenged the validity of the SIA report, the expert committee’s appraisal, the government order approving the acquisition, and the subsequent notification issued under Section 11 of the Act.
HC halts Sabari airport land buying
