Kerala High Court Admits State's Appeal Against Order Quashing Sabarimala Greenfield Airport Land Acquisition, Orders Status Quo

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (24 February) admitted an appeal preferred by the State against the judgment which set aside the government's preliminary notification and other steps taken for acquiring 2570 acres of the land for the Sabarimala Greenfield Project.The division bench comprising Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice M B Snehalatha admitted the appeal and directed the appropriate authority to maintain status quo with respect to the property. “Till the next posting date, the appellants are directed to maintain the status quo with respect to the property in question.” Court ordered. The Single bench, while delivering the judgment had directed the acquisitioning authority, State to restart the exercise of a fresh social impact assessment (SIA) study as regards Section 4(4) (d) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, followed by an appraisal in that regard by the Expert group as per Section 7 of the Act.The State in its appeal has submitted that the requirements under the aforementioned sections are met in the SIA report submitted by the State and hence judgement was unnecessary. “Here we are concerned whether the report prepared by the Social Impact Assessment Agency as has been conducted by the agency covers what is required under Section 4(4) (d) .” Advocate General appealing for the State submitted. The senior counsel appearing for the first respondent informed the Court that they are in the process of filing an appeal against the judgement as well. The single judge has rejected the argument of the petitioners (currently respondents in the appeal) that the SIA team has to assess whether there were any alternative places for the purpose of acquisition as well as its acquisition.“The learned single judge in our respectful submission, erroneously holds that the State is required to hold that process not the SIA… which is contrary to the very rules that are promulgated by the State… and the judgments” Senior counsel, Amit Sibal submitted. The Court thus recorded the submission and adjourned the matter to March 4 for considering the appeals together. Case Title: State of Kerala Represented by Its Chief Secretary v Ayana Charitable Trust Case No: WA 278/ 2026Counsel for Appellant: K Gopalakrishna Kurup (AG), V Manu (Spl. GP), M H Hanil KumarCounsel for Respondent: Amit Sibal(Snr.) Dhiraj Philip, Rishikesh Haridas, P HaridasClick Here To Read/ Download Interim Order

Kerala High Court Admits State's Appeal Against Order Quashing Sabarimala Greenfield Airport Land Acquisition, Orders Status Quo

Anamika MJ

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