K-Rail Silverline - No Illegality In State Invoking LARR Act For Land Acquisition : Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday held that the State government was justified in acquiring land in furtherance of its K-Rail SilverLine Project invoking provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR Act)

Justice N. Nagaresh observed that the Railways Act, 1989 would not apply to this case since the Silver Line Project was not yet declared as a Special Railway Project by the Centre.

"As the Semi High-Speed Railway Line (Silver Line) Project is not declared as a Special Railway Project as defined under Section 2(37-A) of the Railways Act, 1989, the respondents cannot invoke the provisions of the Railways Act, 1989 for land acquisition. In the circumstances, the 2nd respondent is justified in invoking the provisions of the LARR Act, 2013 for the purpose of the proposed Semi High Speed Railway Line (Silver Line) Project."

Holding so, the Court made the following observations: 

(1) The Railways Act, 1989 does not expressly or impliedly prohibit the State from invoking the provisions of the LARR Act, 2013 for land acquisition for the proposed Semi High-Speed Railway Line (Silver Line) Project.

(2) Power of the Central Government to acquire land invoking the provisions of the Railways Act, 1989 can be exercised only for the purpose of executing a Special Railway Project as defined under Section 2(37-A) of the Railways Act, 1989

(3) There is no illegality in the State issuing Orders sanctioning land acquisition in various districts. 

The petitioners had moved the Court aggrieved by the Government Order dated 18.08.2021 whereby the State Government sanctioned the land acquisition of 955.13 hectares of various villages in several districts for the K-Rail Silverline project by invoking the provisions of LARR Act.

Advocates Babu Joseph Kuruvathazha, M.G. Sreejith and K.S. Archana appearing for the petitioners challenged the legal sustainability of this sanction. It was also contended that as per Section 105 of the LAAR Act, the provisions of the Act are not applicable to railway projects.

They argued that land acquisition for the Railway Project can be made only by the Union Government and invoking the provisions of the Railways Act, 1989.

Standing Counsel N.K. Subramanian for Railways, Standing Counsel A. Dinesh Rao, Special Government Pleader T.B. Hood and Advocate General K. Gopalakrishna Kurup argued that Railways Act was not applicable to the project.

The Court, therefore, executed a careful examination of the provisions of the LARR Act and the Railways Act, 1989.

Justice Nagaresh observed that LARR Act was intended for land acquisition for the development of essential infrastructure facilities with the least disturbance to the landowners and other affected families and to provide fair compensation and make adequate provisions for their rehabilitation and resettlement.

Upon reading Section 2 which states that the Act shall apply to infrastructure projects, the Court noted that the Act was applicable to the K-Rail project. 

Further, the Court noted that the Railways Act makes a clear distinction between Government Railway and non-Government Railway. Since the proposed Silver Line is not owned by the Centre, it would fall within the ambit of a non-Government Railway as defined under Section 2(25) of the Railways Act. 

The Judge also pointed out that Section 20-A empowered the Centre to acquire land invoking the Railways Act for "Special Railway Projects". However, the State had categorically submitted that the Centre had not yet declared the Silver Line project as a Special Railway Project. This implied that the Railways Act could not be invoked for land acquisition in furtherance of the K-Rail project. 

Under such circumstances, it was decided that the State was justified in invoking the provisions of the LARR Act, 2013 for the Silver Line Project. 

AS such, the petitions were dismissed. 

Case Title: M.V. Chackochan & Ors v. Union of India & Ors. & connected matters.

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Ker) 150

Click Here To Read/Download The Order