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Jagdish Prasad Verma (D) by LRs. & Ors. v. State of M.P. & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 258 of 2016)Decided 5 Jan 2016
Civil Appeal No. 258 of 2016
Justice Anil R. Dave · Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel

Background

The appellants' land had been acquired, and a reference court/High Court had awarded them compensation at the rate of Rs. 20 per square foot, which was further reduced by one-third. The landowners (later represented by their legal representatives) appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that this amount was too low compared to the prevailing circle rate for the land.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court granted leave and, after perusing the record, agreed that Rs. 20 per square foot (further reduced by a third) was too low given that the circle rate was much higher. The Court fixed a reasonable compensation rate of Rs. 40 per square foot, without any one-third deduction, and directed that statutory benefits (such as solatium and interest) be paid in addition. Payment was directed to be made preferably within four months. The appeal was allowed and disposed of with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

When land is acquired by the government, compensation should reflect realistic prevailing (circle) rates, not an arbitrarily low figure with additional deductions; landowners can and should challenge under-valued compensation awards all the way to the Supreme Court.

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

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