The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the state government and ordered a status quo on the Gujarat State Energy Transmission Corporation Ltd’s (GETCO) laying of power transmission line in a village in Sabarkantha district, said petitioners’ advocate Bhaumik Dholaryia.
The farmers had approached the high court demanding that the district collector should hear them first before allotting their land for the electricity line to GETCO. The single-judge bench stayed GETCO’s work and permitted the farmers to approach the collector in the meanwhile.
GETCO approached the division bench, which allowed its appeal and cleared a path for GETCO to lay down the power line in private land. The division bench cited its earlier order passed on November 6, in which it had observed that district collectors do not have any power to interfere with the alignment of power transmission lines as decided by transmission companies, whether on private or public land.
According to advocate Dholariya, the farmers challenged the high court’s order before the apex court on the ground that the HC order has divested the public authority like district collector of all powers of interference in deciding on usage of public and private land for power transmission lines. If the district collector does not have any power, affected people would be left without a space to express their grievance for redressal.
