Supreme Court slams Tamil Nadu over gas project

Observing that obstruction of a Central government project by a state will amount to breakdown of constitutional machinery, the Supreme Court on Tuesday permitted Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) to implement its natural gas pipeline project cutting across seven districts in Tamil Nadu.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justices A.K. Sikri and R. Banumathi slammed the state government for stalling the project by supporting the farmers’ agitation because it involved votes. The bench thereby upheld a Madras high court judgment giving its nod for implementation of the Rs 3,000-crore project. The pipeline is to be laid between Kochi terminal, Kuttanad, Bangalore and Mangalore. About 300 km of it in Tamil Nadu is to pass through Coimbatore, Tirupur, Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts.

The bench held that Tamil Nadu has no legal jurisdiction or competence to direct GAIL to alter the alignment after the expert committee had ruled that laying of pipelines along the national highways was not technically feasible. That apart, once the right of user had been validly acquired by GAIL, there was no question of nullifying or negating such vesting of lands in favour of GAIL.