Godrej & Boyce's plea against Vikhroli land acquisition rejected

Clearing a roadblock for the country's first proposed bullet train line from Ahmedabad to Mumbai, the Supreme Court on Friday rejected Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co's appeal against the acquisition of its land in Mumbai's Vikhroli area for the project.

Observing that it is the project of "national importance", a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud refused to entertain Godrej & Boyce's appeal, saying "much water has flown as possession has been taken over of the land and the project is already being constructed".

However, it gave liberty to the company to approach the competent authority for enhancement of compensation for its land and the same has to be decided by the latter in six weeks.


When senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Godrej & Boyce, repeatedly questioned the validity of grant of ₹264 crore compensation, the bench said: "We will not entertain it. It would be like putting a gun to pay the compensation. It is only a question of money. This is a national project we are talking about."

The Bombay High Court had on February 9 upheld the ₹264-crore compensation award by the Maharashtra government to acquire the company's land for the project and rejected Godrej & Boyce's contention that the lower compensation was "perverse, arbitrary and unsustainable".