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.During a previous hearing of the case, the Bench had remarked that it has inputs that assure that none of the properties marked by the survey stones in furtherance of the project will be subject to any restrictions whatsoever. This was affirmed today by the State which submitted that the lands marked by survey stones are not frozen and are open to mortgage and sale while adding that this may be recorded in the order.However, the Court opined that the public will only find reassurance once the State itself declares so, rather than finding it in a court order. Previously, the Court had expressed its concerns if the property so marked be used by landowners for sale or mortgage and if such property can be produced to avail bank loans.The Judge had earlier directed the State to temporarily defer steps for the survey of the writ petitioners' properties until the matters were called up for the next hearing. However, this order was set aside by a Division Bench noting that Social Impact Assessment cannot be seen as an empty formality and that the public is entitled to know the adverse impact and consequences they are likely to suffer.The Silver Line Project is a semi high-speed rail corridor connecting one end of the State to the other and was announced for the first time over 8 years ago.The Kerala Rail Development Corporation (K-Rail), a joint venture of Indian Railways and the state government, is to implement the project. According to K-rail, the cost of the project was estimated to be around 64,000 crores. Although its Detailed Project Report received a nod from the State cabinet, approval from the Centre is still pending.The primary grievance of the petitioners was concerning the installation of survey marks by the appellants under the Kerala Survey and Boundaries Act, 1961 engraving "K-Rail" in their properties to conduct a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study for the proposed project.Case Title: Muralikrishnan v. State of Kerala & connected matters

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

Hannah M Varghese

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