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Om Parkash & Ors. Etc. v. State of Haryana

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal Nos. 1071-1073 of 2012)Decided 17 Feb 2016
Civil Appeal Nos. 1071-1073 of 2012
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

About 233.09 acres of land in Village Devi Nagar, Sub-Division Kalka, District Ambala was acquired in 1987 for development of a residential/commercial sector in Panchkula. The Reference Court fixed compensation at Rs. 31 per square yard, and the High Court affirmed this. The landowners appealed, arguing that similarly situated, nearby land acquired just two years earlier (in the "Prakash Rani" case) had been valued at Rs. 250 per square yard, and that their land deserved the same treatment.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court was wrong to say there was no evidence connecting the appellants' land to the higher-valued land in the Prakash Rani case: the Land Acquisition Collector's own award had already described the land as adjoining Kharak Mangoli village and as having great potential value, being close to national highways and newly developed urban sectors. The Court noted that other landowners in the neighbouring villages had already been granted Rs. 250 per square yard or more for similarly situated land. Finding no justification for treating the appellants differently, the Court allowed the appeals and fixed their compensation at Rs. 250 per square yard along with statutory benefits, to be computed and deposited by the State within four months.

Lesson Learnt

In land acquisition cases, landowners are entitled to the same compensation rate as similarly situated neighbouring land where the higher value is independently supported by the acquiring authority's own records: courts should not require duplicate proof of a comparison that is already evident from the file.

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

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