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Banwari & Ors. vs. Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (HSIIDC) & Anr.

Not available · 2024 INSC 951Decided 10 Dec 2024
Not available
Justice B.R. Gavai · Justice K.V. Viswanathan

Background

The appellants' land in Jhajjar district, Haryana was acquired in 2004 for the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway, and they were awarded compensation of Rs. 12,50,000 per acre. Other landowners whose land was covered by the same acquisition notification went to court and eventually secured a much higher rate of compensation from the High Court. The appellants then applied under Section 28-A of the Land Acquisition Act (which lets landowners who did not litigate claim the same enhanced rate awarded to others under the same notification) before the Land Acquisition Collector, who allowed it, but the High Court struck this down on a writ petition filed by HSIIDC, holding the appellants' application was time-barred or otherwise improper.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court restored the Collector's order in the appellants' favour, holding that Section 28-A is a beneficial provision meant to help landowners, often poor and unable to litigate, get the same higher compensation obtained by more litigious neighbours under an identical acquisition notification. Relying on the three-judge bench precedent in Pradeep Kumari, the Court held that Section 28-A must be interpreted liberally to advance its remedial purpose, not narrowly in a way that defeats the very inequality the provision was designed to fix. Since the appellants' land was acquired under the same notification as those who secured enhanced compensation, they were entitled to the same benefit.

Lesson Learnt

Landowners who did not personally go to court to fight for higher compensation are not shut out: Section 28-A of the Land Acquisition Act lets them claim the same enhanced rate won by other landowners under the identical acquisition notification, and courts must interpret this provision generously in favour of ordinary, often unrepresented, land owners.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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