SC seeks HMT response on Kerala’s plea for taking possession of 27 acres for Judicial City

New Delhi, Nov 26 The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought response of the Hindustan Machine Tools and others on a plea of the Kerala government seeking its nod to take possession of 27 acres of land held by the HMT at Kalamassery for establishing a ‘Judicial City’.

The proposed ‘Judicial City’ will house the Kerala High Court’s judicial wing and allied infrastructure.

A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notice to HMT and other respondents on the state’s application.

The plea has been filed in a long-pending civil appeal arising from a 2014 judgment of the Kerala High Court concerning ownership and ceiling restrictions on the land.

In 2016, the top court had issued notice in the appeal filed by HMT and directed that the status quo with respect to the land be maintained. That interim order continues to remain in force.

The state government has now urged the bench to modify the status quo order to allow it to take over 27 acres of HMT land, subject to the condition that it deposits the compensation amount, calculated as per the 2014 Basic Valuation Report, in the form of a fixed deposit receipt (FDR) in the name of the Registrar General of the Kerala High Court in a nationalised bank.

The 900-acre land bank at Kalamassery was originally acquired in the 1960s for setting up a machine tool factory as a Central Sector project.

Over time, portions of the land were transferred to entities including the Naval Armament Depot and the Kerala State Electricity Board. However, large tracts remained unutilised by HMT.

The Kerala state had attempted to resume nearly 400 acres, triggering prolonged litigation that culminated in the 2014 high court judgment.

The high court had ruled that the land allotted to HMT could not be subjected to ceiling proceedings under the Kerala Land Reforms Act, as it was originally government land allotted after the statutory cutoff dates.