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Shirdi Nagar Panchayat, Shirdi vs Appasaheb Narayan Chaudhari & Others

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 798Decided 5 Aug 2022
Civil Appeal No. 5017 of 2022
M.R. Shah · B.V. Nagarathna

Background

In 1983, the then Shirdi Gram Panchayat (later Shirdi Nagar Panchayat) took possession of private land to build a water storage tank and lay a pipeline, without formally acquiring the land under the Land Acquisition Act or, as alleged, without paying compensation. The landowners filed a writ petition only in 2018-35 years later, seeking a direction to the authorities to initiate acquisition proceedings and pay compensation. The Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench) allowed the petition, relying on an earlier Supreme Court ruling (Vidya Devi v. State of Himachal Pradesh) and directed the Nagar Panchayat to prepare an acquisition proposal.

Decision Breakdown

Before the Supreme Court, the Nagar Panchayat (by then converted into a Municipal Council) filed an additional affidavit with cash-book extracts suggesting that the land had actually been acquired through private negotiation and about Rs. 1,21,000 had already been paid as compensation in 1981-83: documents that were never placed before the High Court. Since this evidence went to the root of the dispute and the landowners had no opportunity to respond to it, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court's judgment without deciding the merits either way, and remanded the matter to the High Court to be decided afresh after the Municipal Council files a proper counter-affidavit with supporting documents and the landowners get a chance to rebut it.

Lesson Learnt

Courts decide land-compensation disputes on the material actually placed on record; if crucial evidence surfaces later (such as proof of an old private settlement/payment), the case may be sent back for a fresh, fair hearing rather than being finally decided on incomplete facts.

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

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