Central Govt. of India v. Raj Devi Alias Raj Kumari and Anr.
Background
The respondent's land was compulsorily acquired by the Central Government in 1990, and a compensation award granted her solatium (an additional statutory sum for compulsory acquisition) but did not grant interest on that solatium. Years later, in execution proceedings, the Executing Court directed the government to pay interest on the solatium from the date her possession was taken in 1990, and the High Court upheld this. The government appealed, arguing that under existing Supreme Court precedent, interest on solatium could only run from the date of a later landmark judgment (2001), not from the date possession was taken, since the original award and appellate judgment had never actually granted such interest.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court examined the original 1990 award and the subsequent High Court appellate judgment and found that neither had, in fact, granted interest on solatium, only solatium itself and other statutory benefits were awarded. Applying the binding principle from its earlier ruling in Gurpreet Singh v. Union of India, the Court held that since the claim for interest on solatium was never addressed or granted in the original decree, the execution court could not read it in from the possession-taking date; it could only be granted from 19 September 2001, the date of the Sunder v. Union of India judgment. The Court distinguished a separate case relied upon by the respondent, finding it dealt with a different, already-settled batch of claims. It therefore allowed the appeal and set aside the orders directing interest from the 1990 possession date.
Lesson Learnt
In land acquisition cases, interest on solatium can only be claimed from the date of the Sunder judgment (2001) unless the original compensation award or decree itself specifically granted such interest: an execution court cannot add fresh relief that was never part of the original decree.