K Rail | Centre Claims It Did Not Sanction Ongoing SIA Conducted By State, Kerala High Court Reserves Judgment

The Kerala High Court on Friday reserved the judgment in the batch of petitions challenging the State authorities laying down survey stones on petitioners' property as part of the ongoing survey in furtherance of the K-Rail Silver Line project.

Justice Devan Ramachandran heard all the parties concerned in full today but was incapacitated from delivering the judgment on account of the reference posted for two judges who are retiring. 

Meanwhile, the Centre submitted a written instruction that the State had not approached the Railways seeking permission to proceed with the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) or to lay survey stones on private land for the project. The said statement also clarified that the Union had not granted any form of approval to the State for the same and that it had no notice of the ongoing survey or the SIA.

By establishing that it has not given permission for the SIA, the Central government has washed its hands of its involvement in the project, thereby renouncing its accountability for the same. 

This stand taken by the Centre raises eyebrows since it comes a day after the Court posed a few of its concerns regarding the project, calling the Central government an 'equal partner' of the joint venture. 

Perusing the Centre's response, Justice Ramachandran informed the petitioners, "Now the Centre says it has no notice of the SIA. So they can't answer anything." 

Redirecting its attention back to the State, the Court urged the government to at least address two vital concerns.

1) State should publicly declare that the lands marked by the survey stones are not frozen and that they are open for mortgage/sale with any banking or cooperative institution. 

2) The notification of the survey was issued months before the process actually started. Does this suffice as notice to individuals whose land will be marked with survey stones? Is it fair to barge into someone's private property out of the blue without giving individual notice? 

The Senior Government Pleader gave an undertaking that the government will come out with an instruction that SIA will not stop owners from availing loans from banks.