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M. Mohan vs. The State Government of Tamil Nadu & Ors.

Not available · 2022 INSC 903Decided 2 Sept 2022
Not available
M.R. Shah · B.V. Nagarathna

Background

The petitioner's land near Aminjakarai, Chennai was acquired under the Tamil Nadu Highways Act, 2001 to build grade separators for a flyover and subway. He challenged the acquisition in the Madras High Court, arguing the government issued its final acquisition notification without properly following the enquiry procedure in Rule 5 of the Tamil Nadu Highways Rules, 2003: specifically, without waiting for the Highways Department's response to his objections before holding the enquiry. Both the Single Judge and the Division Bench of the High Court rejected his challenge, though the Division Bench also went further and said Rule 5 itself was invalid because it conflicted with the parent Act. He then appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that Rule 5(2), which lets the Highways Department file a response to objections, uses the word "may", meaning it is not mandatory for the department to respond, and there is no rule requiring that response be shared with the land owner. The Court found there was substantial compliance: the petitioner got a full opportunity to raise objections, an enquiry was held, and the Highways Department's response was on record before the final notification was issued. The Court also corrected the High Court's error in declaring Rule 5 unconstitutional/inconsistent with Section 15, since the validity of the rule was never actually argued before it, but declined to say anything further on that point since it didn't affect the outcome. The petitions were dismissed and the land acquisition upheld.

Lesson Learnt

In land acquisition matters, courts look for "substantial compliance" with procedural rules rather than perfect technical compliance, especially where the core purpose of a procedural safeguard (giving the land owner a genuine chance to object) has been met. Also, government rules should be presumed valid unless their legality is actually argued and tested in court: a court should not strike down a rule's validity in passing.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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