The Supreme Court Thursday dismissed a plea seeking modification of its 2017 order directing payment of final compensation of ₹60 lakh for each of the families affected by the Sardar Sarovar project on the Narmada river.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said once the final settlement package has been determined as ₹60 lakh per family, the modification would not hold as it would be a substantive review of the order of this court.
"The directions issued by this court under Article 142 of the Constitution are not susceptible to clarification or modification in this application. We find no merit in this application, accordingly, the application is dismissed," the bench said.
Advocate Sanjay Parikh, advancing the arguments on behalf of an oustee, submitted that in items of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal, the entitlement of the applicant should have been for 4.293 hectares of land.
Mr. Parikh submitted that a proper reading of the top court's order would show that the compensation would have to be pegged at 30 lakh per hectare and the actual compensation would come to be ₹1.28 crore.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, stated that the 2017 order was passed under Article 142 and a modification or clarification order cannot be passed as that would be a substantive review of the court's decision.
The Supreme Court on February 8, 2017, cleared the decks for monetary compensation for the oustees of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) on river Narmada in Madhya Pradesh by ordering ₹60 lakh for each of the families which are likely to be displaced.
Passing a slew of directions to address the grievances of 681 such families, the Supreme Court had ordered compensation of ₹60 lakh per family for two hectares of land with an undertaking to be taken from them that they would vacate the land within one month failing which the authorities would have the right to forcibly evict them.
Earlier, Narmada Bachao Andolan had told the Supreme Court that 192 villages and one township would be affected in Madhya Pradesh alone and about 45,000 affected people are yet to be rehabilitated.
The Sardar Sarovar Project oustees, including thousands of Adivasis and farmers, have been waiting for land-based rehabilitation for many years, NBA had said.
