Wayanad township: Setback for Elston Estate owners, SC dismisses petition seeking to halt land acquisition proceedings

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition filed by the owners of Elston Estate, challenging the land acquisition proceedings initiated by the Kerala government to build a township for the rehabilitation of landslide-affected residents in Wayanad. A bench comprising Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar rejected the plea, noting that the estate owners had already expressed no objection to handing over the property during earlier High Court proceedings. The apex court pointed out that the only point of contention was the amount of compensation. The court stated that determining the compensation value was beyond its scope, and such matters should be resolved through the appropriate authority as stipulated in the law.

The state government had initiated proceedings to acquire 78.73 hectares of land from Elston Estate for the township construction. This process began based on an interim order from the High Court. Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing on behalf of the estate owners, had requested an urgent stay on this order.

The government had decided to pay Rs 26.56 crore as compensation for the land that covers buildings, trees, tea plants, and other agricultural crops. However, the estate owners argued that the amount fixed by the government was significantly low and demanded Rs 1,063 crore instead. They claimed that, as per Section 26 of the 2013 Land Acquisition Act, the calculated compensation was inadequate.

The state government strongly opposed the stay request in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court also noted that the High Court’s order in this matter was only an interim ruling, and the main petition is still under the High Court’s consideration. The Supreme Court further directed the High Court’s Division Bench to hear the case urgently.