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Narmada Bachao Andolan and Ors. vs Union of India & Ors.

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2022 INSC 995Decided 22 Sept 2022
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 328 of 2002
Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud · Hima Kohli · Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha

Background

Under the 1979 Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal award, families displaced by the Sardar Sarovar dam were entitled to allotment of irrigable land (minimum 2 hectares, up to a ceiling), and a Madhya Pradesh policy fixed a maximum entitlement of 8 hectares. A displaced applicant whose 4.293 hectares had been acquired was, following a 2017 Supreme Court order under Article 142 resolving compensation for hundreds of unpaid project-affected families at a flat rate of Rs. 60 lakh per family (based on 2 hectares at Rs. 30 lakh/hectare), offered Rs. 60 lakh. She argued she was entitled instead to proportional compensation for her full 4.293 hectares (about Rs. 1.28 crore), and after the Grievance Redressal Authority and the Madhya Pradesh High Court rejected this claim, she sought clarification/modification of the 2017 Supreme Court order itself.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that its 2017 order, passed under Article 142 as a comprehensive, once-and-for-all "full and final settlement" for 681 project-affected families who had not yet been paid, had fixed a flat package of Rs. 60 lakh per family: a package incapable of being broken down into a per-hectare rate, and not open to reinterpretation to award a higher, land-area-based sum. Since the order was final, binding, and explicitly meant to end all related litigation, the Court held it could not now be modified through a fresh miscellaneous application, which would effectively amount to reviewing the settlement. The main application was accordingly dismissed. In the same judgment, the Court disposed of a separate batch of applications by directing the Grievance Redressal Authority to decide undecided rehabilitation claims within two months (with a right to approach the High Court thereafter), and dismissed a further batch of unrepresented, unprosecuted applications for non-prosecution.

Lesson Learnt

A settlement or compensation package fixed by the Supreme Court under its special Article 142 powers as a "full and final" resolution is treated as conclusively closing the matter: individual beneficiaries cannot later seek to recalculate or enhance their share by reinterpreting the basis of that package.

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

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