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Narendra & Ors. v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2017 INSC 882Decided 11 Sept 2017
Civil Appeal Nos. 10429-10430 of 2017
Justice A.K. Sikri · Justice Ashok Bhushan

Background

The appellants' agricultural land in village Makanpur, Ghaziabad, was compulsorily acquired by the Uttar Pradesh government in 1986 for the planned development of Vaishali, with compensation initially fixed at Rs. 50 per square yard and later raised to Rs. 90 by a reference court. Other villagers whose land was acquired under the very same notification succeeded in getting the High Court to fix compensation at Rs. 297 per square yard (a figure that had since attained finality, including surviving a curative petition). The High Court, however, limited these appellants to only Rs. 115 per square yard, the figure they themselves had originally claimed and paid court fees on, reasoning it could not award more than what was actually claimed.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court's reasoning was legally wrong: since a 1984 amendment to Section 25 of the Land Acquisition Act removed any cap on the maximum compensation a court could award, courts are not restricted to the amount claimed and must award the true, fair market value irrespective of the claim figure. The Court also relied on Section 28A of the Act (which lets other landowners under the same notification claim the same enhanced rate) and on fairness/equality principles, noting it would be discriminatory to pay identically-situated farmers under the same acquisition notification different rates merely because poorer claimants, unable to afford higher court fees, had claimed a lower figure. The High Court's order was set aside, and the appellants were held entitled to the same Rs. 297 per square yard rate awarded to similarly situated villagers, with the shortfall in court fees to be made good.

Lesson Learnt

When land is compulsorily acquired under a single government notification, a court should not deny some landowners the same fair compensation rate awarded to others under that same notification merely because they claimed a lower amount in their pleadings: courts have the power, and indeed the duty, to award just compensation that reflects true market value.

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

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