C. LAJITH Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The writ petition has been filed with the following prayers;

(2.) The petitioners' case is as follows;

(3.) The petitioners owned properties, buildings and businesses at Puthiyatheru, about 4 Kilometres from Kannur town, abutting the Old NH 66 between Manna Junction and National Highway By-pass Junction. The grievance that is projected is that the 4th respondent rejected the objections raised by the petitioners under Sec. 15 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as the 'LARR Act'), challenging the Social Impact Assessment Study and the consequential proceedings. The petitioners have stated the details of the properties owned by them. Such details may not be very relevant for determining the issues involved, and hence, they are not being extracted. All that needs to be said is that the facts relating to the ownership of the properties and the constructions and businesses that are being carried on are not seriously disputed by the respondents. According to the petitioners, the existing width of the road at Puthiyatheru is 10 to 13 Metres. It is stated that there are 500 employees working in the commercial establishments at Puthiyatheru Junction, and the livelihood of more than 3500 persons depends on the businesses that are being conducted in the locality. It is further stated that as part of the widening of the Highway, a by-pass road has been constructed deviating the National Highway 66 from the original NH-66, and after the said deviation, except persons who need to reach Kannur town, all other vehicles towards Mangalore (towards North) and Kozhikode (towards south) use the above by-pass and the traffic in the existing road is stated to have reduced by more than 25%. It is also stated that another bypass road is proposed from Puthiyatheru (Kottali Road Junction) to Kannothchal Junction, having a length of 7.4 kilometres, which would again reduce the traffic considerably. According to the petitioners, it is in the above circumstances that respondents 1 to 3 have proposed to widen the road, which has a width of 10 to 13 Metres to 22 Metres. According to the petitioners, the entire commercial establishments in the locality will be affected by the proposal. The petitioners suggested that the widening may be up to 17 Metres, thus mitigating the damage that may be caused. Ext.P2 is the map showing the bypass, mini bypass, and the existing NH-66, and Ext.P3 is the proposal submitted by the Puthiyatheru Action Committee.