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Manik Panjabrao Kalmegh vs. Executive Engineer Bembla Project Division Yavatmal & Ors.

Not available · 2024 INSC 844Decided 6 Nov 2024
Not available
Justice Pankaj Mithal · Justice R. Mahadevan

Background

The appellant's agricultural land was acquired in 2003 for an irrigation project in Maharashtra. He accepted the initial compensation under protest and sought enhancement, eventually being awarded extra compensation for fruit-bearing "awala" trees and a borewell on his land through a review of the reference court's order. The High Court later held that this additional compensation for the trees and borewell had been wrongly granted in review proceedings based on inadmissible evidence, and reversed it, prompting the appellant's appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court agreed with the High Court that the reference court had improperly relied on an unproven, inadmissible report (a Joint Measurement Report) when granting compensation for the trees and borewell during review: a review petition cannot be used to reargue a case on new, unproven evidence as if it were a fresh appeal. The Court also upheld the High Court's approach to calculating land value, rejecting the appellant's demand for a compounded (cumulative) 10% annual increase over an earlier exemplar sale deed, since an earlier related judgment on the same acquisition had already fixed a simple (non-cumulative) increase. The appeals were dismissed with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

A review petition is a limited remedy meant to correct an apparent error in a judgment. It is not a second chance to introduce fresh, unproven evidence or reargue the merits of a case as if in a full appeal.

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

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