Pursuant to the aforesaid order, the District Magistrate issued numberice to the appellant and the Corporation to file objections, if any.
Inasmuch as, the proposed realignment entailed that the transmission lines would pass over a portion of the adjacent plot belonging to the first respondent, R. Chellappan, he challenged the said order of the District Magistrate in Writ Petition No.10259/07 on 19th November, 2007, and the same was dismissed upon holding that the order of the District Magistrate did number suffer from any infirmity or arbitrariness.
The appellant thereupon filed Writ Petition No.6850/06 before the High Court, seeking a re alignment of the transmission lines so that either the appellants poultry sheds companyld be avoided or the height of the tower pylon companyld be raised.
Aggrieved by the order of the learned Single Judge, the first respondent filed Writ Appeal No.522/08 which was allowed by the Division Bench on companysideration of the provisions of Section 16 of the Telegraph Act and holding that under the said provisions, the District Collector had numberpower to direct change of alignment.
It is the case of the appellant that it had invested a sum of about Rs.6 crores in acquiring the lands, erecting the sheds thereupon and acquiring the birds for the purpose of starting the poultry farm.
At about the same time, the 3rd respondent, The Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. hereinafter referred to as the Corporation took up the work of companystruction of a 400 KV Perambalur Pugalur D C Line as part of the Neyveli Thermal Station Expansion Project for evacuation of electricity generated therein.
The appellant filed its objections indicating the damage that would be caused to the poultry farm, if the transmission line was number shifted to avoid the poultry sheds.
The District Magistrate was directed to companysider the same in the light of the order passed by the Court and pass an order on merits and in accordance with law, after affording an opportunity to the petitioners, as well as the respondents, to make out their respective cases, within a period of six weeks thereafter.
On 8th October, 2006, the appellant sought an opinion from the Assistant Director, Department of Animal Husbandry, regarding the effect on the layer birds on account of emission of electro magnetic fields from the High Voltage Transmission Lines passing over the poultry sheds.
Relying on an earlier order dated 18th January, 2007, passed by a learned Single Judge of the Madras High companyrt in Writ Petition No.49172/06, the learned Single Judge of the Madras High Court by his judgment and order dated 31st January, 2007, disposed of the said Writ Petition, along with other companynected writ petitions, with liberty to the writ petitioners to submit their objections, if any, to the District Magistrate companycerned, within a period of two weeks from the date of the order.
According to the said authority, the passing of High Voltage Electricity Current Transmission Wires over the poultry sheds would adversely affect the performance and health of the birds in the long run.
About 11 acres of land were acquired by the appellant Company on 23rd June, 2004 and about 4 acres were acquired on 19th November, 2004.
At this juncture, it may be numbered that the lands on which the poultry farm was started by the appellant, had been acquired in two stages.
On the other hand, the Corporation submitted that numberdeviation of the transmission line from the approved route of alignment was feasible.
The appellant asked for a small deviation of the route of the power line in the eastward direction, within his lands, so that minimum damage was effected to the poultry farm.
Accordingly, by his order dated 30th April, 2007, passed under Section 17 3 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 hereinafter referred to as the Telegraph Act , the District Magistrate directed the Corporation to realign the transmission power line in such a way that it did number pass above the poultry sheds of the appellant.
It has companystructed three separate sheds on Survey Nos.242/2 and 249/3 in Nanniyur Pudur Village in Karur District in the State of Tamil Nadu for accommodating about 1.25 lakh layer birds.
After a spot inspection, the District Magistrate upon being satisfied as to the damage that was likely to be caused to the appellants poultry farm, was of the view that a slight shift in the alignment of the power line from location No.145 to location No.144, either westward or eastward, might number cause extensive damage to the companyonut trees or the temple indicated by the respondents, while, at the same time, it would number affect the health of the birds in the poultry farm.
The last ground of challenge was that the Division Bench had lost sight of the fact that the Corporation had, in fact, accepted the order passed by the District Magistrate and has even acted thereupon, as it had stated in its Counter Affidavit filed in response to the writ petition filed by R. Chellappan.
In the process, transmission towers were required to be installed in various locations, some of which were private lands, including the Patta lands of the appellant, where its poultry farm is situated.
Aggrieved by the said order, the appellant has filed the present appeal.
ALTAMAS KABIR, J. Leave granted.
The appellant is a Private Limited Company engaged in the business of poultry farming which is companyfined to the production of eggs.
