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Chitrabai & Anr. Etc. v. Deputy Chief Engineer (Constructions), South Central Railways-III, Secunderabad & Anr.

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 746Decided 18 Nov 2021
Civil Appeal Nos. 6957-6958 of 2021
Justice Uday Umesh Lalit · Justice S. Ravindra Bhat

Background

The appellants' land in village Taj Sultanpur had been acquired for a railway project, and they challenged the compensation awarded as inadequate, after the Karnataka High Court had dismissed their claim. A related batch of cases concerning land from the neighbouring villages of Shaikh Roza and Jafrabad, acquired for the same project, had already been decided by the Supreme Court in 2019, enhancing the compensation payable for those villages.

Decision Breakdown

The Court noted that land from Taj Sultanpur had historically been valued on par with land from Jafrabad. Since the 2019 decision had already raised the Jafrabad compensation rate, the Court held that fairness required the Taj Sultanpur compensation to be enhanced to the same level (Rs. 129.95 per sq. ft.) for this group of appellants. The appeals were allowed on this basis, without any order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

Where neighbouring parcels of land acquired for the same public project have historically been valued on par with each other, courts will apply a "parity principle" so that landowners from one village are not left behind after their neighbours' compensation is enhanced in an earlier round of litigation.

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

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