(Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for the issuance of a writ of mandamus forbearing the respondents from taking overhead electricity lines across or from laying electricity towers in the properties bearing Sl. No New S.No Extent Hec. Ares 1) 29/1 0.32.50 2) 30/2 0.41.50 3) 32/2 0.35.00 4) 37/- 0.98.50 1st Petitioner 5) 194/4 0.19.00 6) 195/- 0.58.50 7) 252/- 0.46.00 8)60/2 0.36.50 9)61/1 0.42.00 10)61/2 0.79.50 11)66/6 0.02.00 12)66/8 0.02.00 2nd petitioner 13) 13/5 0.06.5014)21/1 0.36.50 15) 22/3 0.37.00 16) 24/1 0.47.50 17)24/4 0.30.50 18)66/7 0.06.20 19)23/2 0.11.50 3rd petitioner 20) 27/1 0.15.50 21) 24/2 0.28.50 4th petitioner in Siruvanthadu Village Villupuram District except of law)

1. Since the respondent Electricity Board is required to get permission to enter upon the property of an individual for erecting High Tension Wires, towers or to draw cables, as per Section 16 of the Indian Telegraphic Act, 1885, the District Collector cum District Magistrate is a necessary party. Therefore, The District Collector cum District Magistrate, Villupuram, Villupuram District is suo-motu impleaded as the 6th respondent in this writ petition. Since this Court has suo-motu impleaded the District Collector as a party respondent, the petitioner is directed to pay a sum of Rs.1,000/- to the Adyar Cancer Institute, Chennai, within a period of one week.

2. Mr.Varun Kumar, learned Standing Counsel takes notice on behalf of respondents 1 to 5 and Mr.V.Jayaprakash Narayanan, learned Special Government Pleader takes notice on behalf of the 6th respondent and with the consent of the counsel on both sides, the main writ petition itself is taken up for final disposal.

3. This writ petition has been filed for the issuance of a writ of mandamus forbearing the respondents from taking overhead electricity lines across or from laying electricity towers in the properties bearing Sl. No New S.No Extent Hec. Ares (1) 29/1 0.32.50 (2) 30/2 0.41.50 (3) 32/2 0.35.00 (4) 37/- 0.98.50 1st Petitioner (5) 194/4 0.19.00 (6) 195/- 0.58.50 (7) 252/- 0.46.00 (8) 60/2 0.36.50 (9) 61/1 0.42.00 (10) 61/2 0.79.50 (11)66/6 0.02.00 (12) 66/8 0.02.00 2nd petitioner (13) 13/5 0.06.50 (14) 21/1 0.36.50 (15) 22/3 0.37.00 (16) 24/1 0.47.50 (17) 24/4 0.30.50 (18) 66/7 0.06.20 (19) 23/2 0.11.50 3rd petitioner (20) 27/1 0.15.50 (21) 24/2 0.28.50 4th petitioner, in Siruvanthadu Village, Villupuram District, except of law.

4. The petitioners are the owners of the following properties located in Siruvanthadu Village, Villupuram Taluk, Villupuram District:-

Sl.No.NewS.No.Extent Hec. Arespetitioner

129/10.32.50)

230/20.41.50) 1st petitioner

332/20.35.00)

437/-0.98.50)

5194/40.19.00)

6195/- 0.58.50)

7252/-0.46.00)

860/20.36.50) 2nd petitioner

961/10.42.0)

1061/20.79.50)

1166/60.02.00)

1266/80.02.00)

1313/50.06.50)

1421/10.36.50)

1522/30.37.00)

1624/10.47.50) 3rd petitioner

1724/40.30.50)

1866/70.06.50)

1923/20.11.50)

2027/10.15.50) 4th petitioner

2124/20.28.50)





The said properties are agricultural lands, having four bore wells with submersible motors and electricity service connections. The petitioners are depending upon the said properties for their livelihood. When things stand so, the respondents 1 to 5 are erecting transmission lines for the purpose of 230 KW project between two villages in two Districts. The HT lines are proposed to be taken over the petitioners lands covering a substantial area. Already an LT line is going across and above the properties of the petitioners and there are also 7 poles totally in this block of land. Without even considering the existence of the earlier 7 poles, the respondent Board are trying to enter upon the petitioners properties and they are trying to erect towers and draw lines, without following the provisions of law. Therefore, the petitioners gave representation dated 24.05.2016, to the 4th respondent, objecting the drawing of lines. Since there was no response, the petitioner again sent objections on 16.07.2016. Without even disposing of the said representations, the officials of the respondent Board are threatening the petitioners to say no objection for such work. Hence, the petitioners have come before this Court seeking the above stated relief.

5. Heard Mr.R.Gururaj, learned counsel for the petitioner, Mr.V.Jayaprakash Narayanan, learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the 6th respondent and Mr.M.Varun Kumar, learned Standing Counsel appearing for respondents 1 to 5.

6. As per Section 16 of the Indian Telegraphic Act, 1885, the respondents 1 to 5 are required to get permission to enter upon the property of the individual for erecting High Tension Wires or any other work from the District Collector cum District Magistrate. As far as the case in hand is concerned, admittedly, so far no permission has been obtained by the respondents 1 to 5 from the 6th respondent.

7. Even though the project is very valuable, before entering into the properties of the petitioners for erecting the towers or to draw lines, due process of law has to be followed. Moreover, the respondents are bound to pay compensation to the petitioners, since drawing of lines or erection of towers may reduce the value of the properties. In this regard, the respondent Board has to take into consideration the Central Government Guideline for award of compensation.

8. Since the respondents 1 to 5 have not obtained any permission from the 6th respondent, this Court is of the view that it would be appropriate to direct the respondents 1 to 5 to approach the 6th respondent by filing appropriate petition seeking permission to erect transmission tower under Section 16 of the Indian Telegraphic Act, 1885. In the meanwhile, the petitioners also shall file a claim petition before the District Collector for compensation.

9. At this juncture, it is appropriate to state that the District Collector has to decide about the compensation as per the guidelines notified by the Government of India, by order dated 15.10.2015 and the operative portion of the guidelines is extracted hereunder:

"No. 3/7/2015 Trans

Government of India

Ministry of Power

Shram Shakti Bhawan

Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110 001.

Dated: 15.10.2015

To

1. Chief Secretaries/Administrators of all the States/UTs

(As per list attached)

2. Chairperson, CEA, New Delhi, with th request to disseminate the above guidelines to all the stateholders

3. CMD, PGCIL, Gurgaon.

4. CEO, POSOCO, New Delhi.

5. Secretary, CERC, New Delhi.

6. CMD of State Power Utilities/SEBs.

Subject: Guidelines for payment of compensation towards damages in regard to Right of Way for Transmission lines.

During the Power Ministers Conference held on April, 9 -10, 2015, at Guwahati with States/UTs, it has, inter alia, been decided to constitute a Committee under the chairship of Special Secretary, Ministry of power to analyze the issues related Right of Way for laying of transmission lines in the country and to suggest a uniform methodology for payment of compensation on this count. Subsequently, this Ministry had constituted a Committee with representatives from various State Governmnets and others. The Committee held several meetings to obtain the views of the State Governments on the issue and submitted its report along with the recommendations (copy of the Report is at Annex-1).

2. The recommendations made by the Committee are hereby formulated in the form of following guidelines for determining the compensation towards damages as stipulated in sections 67 and 68 of the Electricity Act, 2003 read with Sections 10 and 16 of Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, which will be in addition to the compensation towards normal crop and tree damages. This amount will be payable only for transmission lines supported by a tower base of 66 KV and above, and not for sub transmission and distribution lines below 66 KV:-

(i) Compensation @ 85% of land value as determined by District Magistrate or any other authority based on Circle rate/Guideline Value/STamp Act rates for tower base area (between four legs) impacted severely due to installation of tower/pylone structure.

(ii) Compensation towards diminution of land value in the width of right of way (ROW) Corridor due to laying of transmission line and imposing certain restriction would be decided by the States as per categorization/type of land in different places of States, subject to a maximum of 15% of land vlue as determined based on circle rate/guidelines value/stamp Act rates.

(iii) In areas, where the landowner/owners have been offered/accepted alternate mode of compensation by concerned corporation/ Municipality under Transfer Development Rights (TDR) Policy of State, the licensee/Utility shall deposit compensation amount as per (i) and (ii) above with the concerned Corporation/Municipality / Local Body or the State Government.

(iv) For this purpose, the width of ROW corridor shall not be more thanthat prescribed in the table at Annex-2 and shall not be less than the width directly below the conductors.

3. Necessary action may kindly be taken accordingly. These guidelines may not only acilitate in early resolution of ROW issues and also facilitate completion of the vital transmission lines through active support of State/UT Administration.

4. All the States/UTs etc.,are requested to take suitable decision regarding adoption of the guidelines considering that acquisition of land is a State subject."

10. In view of the above, the petitioners are granted two weeks time from the date of receipt of a copy of this order to file statement of claim. Similarly, the respondents 1 to 5 are also given two weeks time from the date of receipt of a copy of this order to file a petition seeking permission for erecting the High Tension Transmission Tower. On such petitions being filed, the 6th respondent shall issue notice to both the parties, within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt of the such petitions and after getting reply, the 6th respondent shall decide both the issues simultaneously and pass appropriate orders on merits and in accordance with law, within a period of 4 weeks thereafter. It is made clear that till permission is obtained from the 6th respondent for erecting High Tension Transmission Tower, the respondents 1 to 5 shall not enter upon the petitioners property. On reception of the order determining the compensation, the respondents 1 to 5 are directed to pay compensation as determined by the 6th respondent, directly to the petitioners with four weeks.

11. It is seen in almost all cases, where the respondent Board intend to erect towers in the properties of private parties, invariably, the Electricity Board or TANGEDCO is not approaching the District Collector/District Magistrate, under Section 16 of the Indian Telegraphic Act, 1885 for the purpose of getting permission to enter upon the properties of the respective private parties. When the officials of the Board are trying to enter upon the property, without any permission from the District Collector, the parties are compelled to approach this Court, by way of writ petitions spending unnecessarily. Therefore, it is appropriate to direct the respondent Electricity Board hereafter to get permission as per law from the District Collector/District Magistrate under Section 16 of the Indian Telegraphic Act, 1885 and thereupon to enter the concerned property. The said direction is required to be followed very strictly. Non compliance of the above direction will be seriously viewed and proper action under Contempt of Court Act will be initiated against the respondent Board.

The writ petition is disposed of accordingly. No costs. Connected miscellaneous petition is closed.

Call the matter for reporting compliance after ten weeks.