Give excess land back to owners, Madras HC tells NHAI

CHENNAI: The Madras high court has directed NHAI to return unused land acquired from private individuals for establishing a four-lane road between Puducherry and Tindivanam in 2010.
The first bench of Acting Chief Justice and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarti as a condition directed the land owners to return the compensation received from the government with 9% interest per annum from the date of receipt of the compensation for getting back their lands.
According to land owners Albert Emmanual and others, when NHAI acquired land for the four-lane road in 2010, the land owned by the petitioners were also acquired. Since the petitioners were of the impression that their lands also fall within the alignment of the proposed they participated in the proceeding and received the compensation granted by the NHAI.
However, when construction of the road began, it came to light that the land owned by the petitioners does not fall under the road alignment and were not used for the proposed four-lane project.
Therefore, the petitioners made a representation to NHAI return their acquired lands. When the highways authorities refused to return it, they moved the present petitions in the Madras high court.