Narmada Bachao Andolan v. Union of India & Ors.
Background
This order arises out of the decades-long Narmada Bachao Andolan litigation over the Sardar Sarovar Dam, specifically concerning pending applications about compensating thousands of "project affected families" in Madhya Pradesh who had been displaced by the submergence area. A large number of families had either received only partial compensation, or had been cheated by middlemen out of money meant to help them buy replacement land, as documented in a judicial commission's report.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court, invoking its special constitutional power under Article 142, fixed concrete, final compensation amounts to close out these specific claims: Rs. 60 lakh per family for the 681 families who had not yet been fully compensated, and an additional Rs. 15 lakh per family (minus sums already paid) for 1,358 families identified as having been defrauded by middlemen. It directed the State to obtain written undertakings that these payments were full and final, set a deadline of 31 July 2017 for affected occupants to vacate the submergence area, and expressly stated that this settlement, reached with the government's consent, would not be treated as a legal precedent for future claims.
Lesson Learnt
In large-scale displacement and compensation disputes, courts can use their equitable powers to fix a one-time, practical lump-sum settlement to bring years of litigation to a close, but such a negotiated settlement is tailored to that case's facts and cannot automatically be cited as a precedent in other cases.