Bombay HC paves way for Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project

The Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed the plea by Godrej & Boyce challenging the acquisition of its land in Vikhroli for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project and said that ‘larger public interest would prevail over private interest’.

A division bench of Justices RD Dhanuka and MM Sathaye relied on a previous case of the Supreme Court and said that there may be situations where conflict may arise between two fundamental rights.

“In case of conflict on inter-fundamental rights and intra-fundamental rights, the court has to examine as to where lies the larger public interest while balancing the two conflicting rights. It is the paramount collective interest which would ultimately prevail,” the bench said.

The court stressed that merely because there are certain alleged irregularities in the procedure required to be followed while acquiring the writ property, it cannot interfere as the bullet train project is of infrastructural and national importance.

The Court also said the project is the first of its kind and the paramount collective interest which would ultimately prevail.

Senior Advocate Navroz Seervai, appearing for Godrej & Boyce, sought status quo so that the company could file an appeal before the Supreme Court but the High Court refused to do so.

Godrej and Boyce challenged the compensation award of Rs 264 crores on September 15, 2022, by the Deputy Collector for acquiring the company's land.

The company also claimed that the project was exempted from social impact assessment and that there were ‘multiple and patent illegalities’ in the acquisition.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the State, submitted that if the compensation was a concern for Godrej, then higher compensation could be considered but the project should not suffer because of it.

The judgment comes a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Mumbai on Friday.

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

Of the total 508.17 km of rail track between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, about 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).

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.

The state government, in October last year, told the court that the Ahmedabad-Mumbai high-speed rail corridor project is a priority project for the Government of India.

It will be India's first high-speed rail line and shall transform the passenger transport system of the country with state-of-the-art technology for the benefit of the public at large, it said and added that once functional, the train would serve 17,900 passengers every day.

“The total cost of the project is about Rs 1 lakh crore. The project is a highly specialised and technical project of enormous high value and is required to be completed within the specified stringent timelines,” the government said.

The state government also said that several negotiations were held with all the stakeholders for an amicable resolution for the acquisition of land, but when it failed, the disputed land was acquired.