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Patni Hushenbhai Sidibhai Kotvala (Deceased) Thr. LRs & Ors. v. National Highways Authority of India

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 511Decided 14 May 2018
Civil Appeal Nos. 5150-5151 of 2018
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar

Background

The appellants' land had been acquired, and the dispute was about enhancing the compensation payable for it. The same underlying (impugned) High Court judgment had already generated a batch of connected appeals that the Supreme Court had decided on 14.11.2017, laying down a formula for compensation based on the land's fruit-bearing trees, plus additional compensation, solatium, and statutory interest.

Decision Breakdown

After granting leave to appeal, the Court held that the present appeals (and two other connected sets of appeals) raised the identical compensation issue already settled in the November 2017 batch judgment, and disposed of them on the same terms: compensation to be calculated based on the Reference Court's fruit-bearing-tree valuation, with additional compensation and solatium, plus 9%/15% statutory interest under Section 28 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Any amount the landowners had already received based on a different (land-value) calculation was to be adjusted against the final award with 15% interest, except where the award amount was already deposited in Court. No costs were ordered.

Lesson Learnt

When several land-owners are affected by the same acquisition and the same High Court judgment, courts often apply one previously-settled compensation formula uniformly to all connected appeals rather than recalculating compensation from scratch for each appellant.

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

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