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Krishan Kumar v. State of Haryana and Others

Civil Appeal · 2025 INSC 638Decided 7 May 2025
C.A. No.-006427-006429 - 2025 (arising out of SLP(C) Nos. 9732-9734/2023, along with a large batch of connected appeals)
Justice Surya Kant · Justice Ujjal Bhuyan

Background

Land in the villages of Fazalwas and Kukrola (Gurgaon district, Haryana) was acquired in 2008 to build an industrial township. The Land Acquisition Collector initially fixed a uniform rate for both villages, but on reference, and then on appeal to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the two villages ended up with very different compensation for land near the National Highway: Fazalwas landowners got roughly Rs. 1.21 crore per acre while Kukrola landowners got only about Rs. 87.35 lakh per acre for comparable land. Both the landowners and the acquiring authority (HSIIDC) challenged the High Court's figures before the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held that Kukrola and Fazalwas are adjacent villages acquired under the same notification for the same purpose, with no real evidence that one had greater development potential than the other, so they could not be paid different rates for comparable land near the highway. It upheld the "belting method" used by the High Court (a lower rate for land within 5 acres' depth of the highway versus land beyond it) and worked through the various sale deeds on record to decide which ones were genuine and comparable. It ultimately equalised the rate for the inner belt in both villages at the higher Fazalwas figure of Rs. 1.21 crore per acre, while upholding the outer-belt rate already fixed by the High Court, and dismissed HSIIDC's and the Fazalwas landowners' own appeals.

Lesson Learnt

When the government acquires land in neighbouring villages for the very same project, courts expect landowners of comparably situated land to receive equal compensation: one owner's land cannot be shortchanged just because a different sale deed happened to be produced in that particular case.

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

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