Mumbai SEZ moves HC over Raigad land buy

MUMBAI: Mumbai SEZ, promoted by RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani and his associate Anand Jain, on Tuesday moved the vacation bench of the Bombay High Court seeking a direction to the state government to quickly complete the process of land acquisition in Raigad district. The court, in turn, has called for a reply from the district collector���s office by May 22.

Janak Dwarkadas, the lawyer for the SEZ argued that two years after the state issued a declaration of ���intention to acquire the land��� for the company, the collector has not issued a final award.

The company intending to set up the SEZ, had already paid Rs 600 crore, apart from signing agreements with the land owners. ���If the final consent award is not made before June 6, the whole process would lapse in line with the Land Acquisition Act,��� he contended.

The government���s lawyer maintained that before the award is made, the persons ���interested in the land��� ��� this refers to the original land owners ��� must appear before the collector. This is to enable the administration to verify whether the land acquisition has been carried out properly. This logic was countered by Mr Dwarkadas who said Mumbai SEZ had, in place registered agreements for the sale of the land which, therefore, made any further verification unnecessary.