June 5: The Mukesh Ambani-promoted Mumbai SEZ Ltd has run into big trouble. On Friday, the Supreme Court refused to come to its aid and stay land acquisition proceedings for the project.

This effectively meant that the land acquisition drive for the project would have to stop on June 8, the deadline that had been set for the completion of the exercise.

If the deadline expires, the proceedings would have to start afresh. This would further delay land purchase for the ambitious Rs 40,000-crore Mumbai SEZ project, which has ignited passions among the farmers in the 45 villages that come within the proposed project site.

A spokesman for Mumbai SEZ (MSEZ) refused to comment on the latest setback.

“The Supreme Court judgment is a big victory for the farmers as they have managed to defeat the country’s biggest corporate lobby. Less than 10 per cent of the land in the proposed MSEZ has been acquired so far by Reliance through private negotiations. They were offering farmers Rs 10 lakh per acre. This was not accepted by the farmers,” said Ulka Mahajan, convenor of the Committee Against Globalisation, a forum of Left political parties, farmers’ organisations and trade unions that has been campaigning against the SEZ.

Legal gridlock

Just days ago, another bench had refused to come to the aid of Mumbai SEZ and had instead adjourned the matter till today. The company had then pointed out that under the rules, land acquisition proceedings had to be completed within two years of project approval.

The SEZ was granted an approval in June 2005. Since then it had been granted two extensions.

Senior counsel Shanti Bhushan had argued that unless the court stayed the acquisition proceedings, the deadline would lapse and the entire proceedings would have to start all over again.

However, a bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Deepak Verma had refused to give any interim relief and instead listed it for hearing before another bench on June 5.

When the matter came up for hearing today, a bench comprising Justices B. Sudarshan Reddy and Aftab Alam refused to stay the land acquisition proceedings.

The firm had appealed against a Bombay High Court order refusing to direct the state to speed up the process to meet the deadline. As an alternative, the company had asked the high court to stay the proceedings. The request was turned down.

No repercussions

Sources said that around 25 per cent of the land had already been acquired. This could not, however, be confirmed. It is unclear what the company will do with this land if the plans for the MSEZ get derailed.

Experts said the Supreme Court decision would not affect other projects in the country. “The Supreme Court judgment is case specific and will impact only MSEZ’s plans at this point. I don’t really see a fallout on other SEZs,” said Vikram Bapat of PwC.

“This is a case where a company is seeking an extension of a deadline for the acquisition of land. No other multi-purpose SEZ is seeking this kind of land infrastructure,” said Jayesh Desai, of Ernst & Young.