Radhey Sham vs. The State of Haryana
Background
Land at villages Hansi and Dhana in Hisar district, Haryana (about 250 acres total) was acquired in 2005-06 for developing residential and commercial sectors. The Land Acquisition Collector initially fixed compensation at Rs. 8-12 lakh per acre, but a long chain of litigation followed: a Reference Court first raised it to Rs. 1,000 per square yard, the High Court later pushed it to Rs. 4,173 per square yard, the Supreme Court set that aside and sent it back, and on remand the compensation was eventually reduced all the way down to Rs. 166-200 per square yard by the High Court, restoring the original Collector's award. The landowners appealed this final reduction to the Supreme Court.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that since the State government had never challenged the 2014 Reference Court order fixing compensation at Rs. 1,000 per square yard (only the landowners had appealed, seeking more), that figure had become final and binding as against the State. The High Court therefore erred in reducing compensation below that figure while hearing the State's appeal. The Court also examined additional sale deeds the landowners relied on to seek an even higher amount, but found most of them too distant in time from the 2005 acquisition notification or too small in area to be reliable evidence of market value. It restored compensation at Rs. 1,000 per square yard, setting aside the High Court's order that had cut it to Rs. 166-200 per square yard.
Lesson Learnt
In compensation disputes, if the government does not appeal a court's valuation, that figure generally becomes final against the government even if the case is later reopened at the landowners' instance: a party cannot get a more favourable outcome than a figure it once accepted without challenge.