Gurdev Singh and Others v. Union of India and Others
Background
The appellants' father, Hem Singh, was a "displaced person" who migrated from Pakistan during Partition and was allotted a plot of land in Delhi in 1985 under the Displaced Persons (Compensation & Rehabilitation) Act, 1954, at a fixed price. He disputed the valuation for years, and eventually a Single Judge of the Delhi High Court allowed him to buy the plot at the 1985 price plus 10% annual interest. The Union of India appealed, and a Division Bench of the High Court reversed that order, prompting Hem Singh's heirs (after his death) to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that Hem Singh's entitlement to the plot was not in dispute, but agreed that letting the family buy the property at the 1985 price plus simple interest was inequitable given how much the land's market value had risen by 2009-10. After calling for a fresh valuation report, the Court fixed a reasonable intermediate payment, Rs. 3,86,30,000 (roughly 3.86 crore) for land and construction cost, minus the Rs. 1.41 crore (with interest) already deposited by the appellants, directing that once this balance was paid within four weeks, the authorities must execute the sale and hand over possession.
Lesson Learnt
Courts can step in to balance equities when a long-pending land dispute leaves original 1985-era pricing unfairly frozen against decades of market appreciation: a middle path (neither the stale old price nor full current market value) is sometimes used to finally settle such disputes.