Queency Jain –
The Supreme Court has dismissed various writ petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of the Tamil Nadu Land Acquisition Laws (Revival of Operation, Amendment and Validation) Act, 2019.
A bunch of petitions filed claimed the 2019 State law and the notification issued therein to be illegal, void and unconstitutional as it was violative of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013.
Senior Advocate Wilson argued that the 2019 Act is to be a means for revising laws that had already struck down in the past while the 2013 Act was passed in favour of agriculturists and landowners so that they are protected from losing their lands without reasonable compensation.
In addition to this, the petitioners argued that the agricultural lands owned by them were earlier acquired in bits and pieces in order to connect the Enniren Port with Mahabalipuram under the Chennai Peripheral Ring Road project but the lands to be acquired under Tamil Nadu Highways Act, 2001 are highly irrigated wherein multi-crops are cultivated.