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Not flouting any law for bullet train: Gujarat government

The advocate general said the agency hired by JICA for the purpose has come out with a comprehensive report that meets all the requirements of social impact assessment

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The state government on Tuesday contended before the Gujarat High Court that the proposed land acquisition for the ambitious bullet train project is being done as per settled norms and there are no wrongdoings in the acquisition process as has been alleged by farmers opposing the project.

During the marathon hearing held on Tuesday, advocate general Kamal Trivedi argued that amendments by the state government in the central Land Acquisition Act are legally valid as the same has received the President's assent. Refuting the submission of farmers on the lack of social impact assessment, Trivedi said although the state is not bound to carry out a social impact assessment, the same has been done by an agency appointed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is funding the project.

The advocate general said the agency hired by JICA for the purpose has come out with a comprehensive report that meets all the requirements of social impact assessment. He also refuted the submission of farmers that the state government is doing away with resettlement and rehabilitation package for the project affected persons.

He said the state will implement all the compensation provisions as mandated under the central Land Acquisition Act and the compensation is based on 'indexation formula' which is a win-win situation for the farmers. As per Trivedi, the 'indexation formula' will take care of the farmers' demand for compensation at present market rates. Contrary to what the state has been claiming, it is the submission of Anand Yagnik, counsel for the farmers, that since the bullet train project is of the union government, the central Land Acquisition Act has to be followed for acquiring land and not the Gujarat amendment version of it. It is also his contention that since the project involves multiple states, multiple laws cannot be used for land acquisition, as it would be in contravention of Right to Equality.

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