The bench was hearing a petition filed by the tribals and the Student Action Committee (SAC) wherein the State has been directed to pay an equivalent compensation paid to the affected tribals of the 35 blasting affected families of village Vayal also in the way of the expressway. These families have still not got any compensation though entitled to it.

The petition was filed against contractors J M Mhatre, Sunil Seth and the tehsildar of the Kalapir taluka of Raigad district who had illegally displaced them. They were not issued any notices before they were threatened that their houses would be bulldozed. The contractor forced them to run from their houses for several months during the blastingtime. The issue was taken up by the SAC of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences when tribals along with them complained to all government authorities.

In December 1998, a public interest litigation was filed by Gulab Gopal Mukne and the Student Action Committee where the three-member committee consisting of the Tribal Commissioner Patil, R N Sharma professor of the TISS and Jadhav from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) was asked to enquire into the problem and file a report.

The report was submitted with recommendations for the rehabilitation of the oustees.

In the same judgement, the court has also requested that the committee consider the allotment of the community land, i.e. Eksali land of the tribals of Tembhri Katkarwadi, if they are cultivating it, for the rehabilitation of the tribals.