The Madras High Court has set aside a notice issued by the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) proposing to acquire the property of United India Insurance for the construction of a metro station as part of the Phase-II project. The court held that it was open for CMRL to acquire the property of a nearby temple, as per its original plan, and that the acquisition of temple lands for the metro project would not violate the fundamental rights of the religious institution under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution.
The court also observed that the almighty would show kindness and benevolence towards the development of the metro station, which would benefit lakhs of people. The court noted that the acquisition of lands belonging to religious institutions is a permissible exercise under the State’s power of eminent domain.
The case arose when United India Insurance challenged a notice issued by CMRL under Section 3(2) of the Tamil Nadu (Acquisition of Lands for Industrial Purposes) Act 1997, asking the company to show cause as to why its properties should not be acquired for the construction of the proposed Metro Station. The company argued that the show cause notice was of no consequence since CMRL had already decided to acquire the property, and that the notice was an empty formality and the opportunity of hearing was only a post-decisional hearing.
The court noted that CMRL had initially proposed to acquire the temple property, but due to fervent pleas from devotees, it decided to utilize the land available on the opposite side. The court also noted that the company had spent Rs. 250 crore on the construction of a building, and that there was a legitimate expectation that there would be no disturbance to its building in the future project.
The court quashed the show cause notice issued to the company and ruled that it would be open to CMRL to proceed with its original plan to acquire the property of the temple. The court also desisted from imposing any cost on the State and the organization claiming to represent the devotees, but hoped that they would realize that the highest aim of religion was to unite mankind.