Godrej refutes allegations of causing delay in bullet train project

The Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd on Thursday submitted to the Bombay High Court that the proceedings of acquisition of its land in Mumbai initiated by the Maharashtra government for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project were "illegal and bad in law".

The company also refuted allegations levelled against it by the state government and the National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL) that it was causing unnecessary hurdles and impediment in the land acquisition process and was hence delaying the project.

It said the final compensation amount of Rs 264 crore was a fraction of the initial Rs 572 crore offered to the company for the acquisition of the land.

The Godrej & Boyce submitted its rejoinder affidavit on Thursday in reply to the affidavits of the government and NHSRCL filed in the petition of the company, challenging an order of September 15, 2022, passed by the Maharashtra government awarding compensation to it for land acquisition for the bullet train project.

The company and the government have been embroiled in a legal dispute over the acquisition of the company-owned land in suburban Vikhroli for the bullet train project since 2019.

Of the total 508.17 kilometres of rail track between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, 21 km is planned to be underground. One of the entry points to the underground tunnel falls on the land at Vikhroli (owned by Godrej).

The matter came up for hearing before a division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sharmila Deshmukh on Thursday.

The court adjourned it till November 21.

The company had in its petition filed in October sought that the HC direct the state government to not proceed towards the award passed and initiation possession proceedings. In the rejoinder affidavit, the Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd termed the land acquisition proceedings initiated by the state government as "unlawful" and claimed there were "multiple and patent illegalities" in the same.

It said the award granted by the government was "ex facie illegal and hence a nullity".

The company also refuted allegations made by the government and the NHSRCL that Godrej was causing unnecessary delay in the project.

"This is demonstrably false, and record clearly establishes that any substantial delay is attributable entirely to the respondents (state and NHSRCL). It was the respondents who grossly delayed the acquisition proceedings," the affidavit said, adding the company was not responsible for any delay caused.

"The respondents' attempts to attribute the delay in the acquisition proceedings to the petitioner (Godrej) is malafide, perverse and untenable," it said.

The authorities have failed to fulfil the mandatory statutory requirements of the Fair Compensation Act, it added. As per the company, no report was prepared detailing the approximate cost of land acquisition and hence the entire decision-making process was bad in law.

It said the final compensation amount of Rs 264 crore was a fraction of the initial Rs 572 crore offered to the company for the acquisition of the land.

"There is non-application of mind while assessing the fair market value of the land in question," the company's affidavit said.

Earlier, the state government had in its affidavit emphasised on the importance of the bullet train project and said the Ahmedabad-Mumbai high-speed rail corridor project is a priority project for the Government of India.

This will be the country’s first bullet train and will run at a maximum speed of 350 km per hour, covering the stretch between the two cities in under three hours from the usual seven hours.

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