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Bernard Francis Joseph Vaz and Ors. v. Government of Karnataka and Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2025 INSC 3Decided 2 Jan 2025
Civil Appeal (@ SLP (Civil) No. 10338 of 2023)
Justice B.R. Gavai · Justice K.V. Viswanathan

Background

In the 1990s, the appellants bought residential plots near Bengaluru. Between 2003 and 2005, the Karnataka government acquired that land for the Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor Project and took possession, but paid no compensation for years. After repeated litigation, including contempt proceedings for non-compliance, an award was finally passed in 2019, using land values from 2011 rather than the original 2003 acquisition date, to partly compensate for the delay. The Karnataka High Court later struck down even that award, ruling the land acquisition officer had no legal authority to shift the valuation date on his own, leaving the landowners with nothing.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court agreed that the officer indeed lacked the power to unilaterally change the valuation date, but invoked its special constitutional power under Article 142 to "do complete justice." Given the State and the development authority's 22-year "lethargic" delay in paying any compensation at all, the Court directed a fresh award based on the market value as of 2019 (when the award was actually passed) instead of reverting to the stale 2003 value, along with all statutory benefits under the applicable land acquisition law.

Lesson Learnt

Although the right to property is no longer a fundamental right, it remains a constitutional right under Article 300-A, and the courts will not let government delay in paying acquisition compensation work an injustice on landowners: prolonged official inaction can itself justify the court stepping in to fix fair, current-day compensation.

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

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