In Brief
The Supreme Court upheld the Central Government's power under the National Highways Act, 1956 to declare open green-field lands as national highways and to acquire land for the Chennai-Krishnagiri-Salem National Corridor project. The Court held that environmental and forest clearances need not precede land acquisition notifications but only before actual construction work begins. The decision to substitute the original project stretch (Chennai-Madurai) with a new one (Chennai-Krishnagiri-Salem) was a valid policy decision within the 15% discretion allowed under the Bharatmala project. The High Court's quashing of the acquisition notifications was reversed. The Court directed that time spent obtaining environmental clearances be excluded from statutory time limits, and the matter was remanded for further proceedings in accordance with law.",
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