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Sunheri & Ors. v. State of Haryana & Anr.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 10176 of 2016)Decided 17 Oct 2016
Civil Appeal No. 10176 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

The appellants' land had been acquired, and the High Court had earlier fixed compensation at Rs. 7,50,000 per acre in a common judgment dated 01.05.2012. A separate, related batch of appeals arising from the very same impugned High Court judgment (SLP (C) No. 13302-13316 of 2013) had already been decided by the Supreme Court, enhancing the rate. These appellants came before the Court seeking the same enhanced rate for their own, identically-situated acquisition.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court granted leave and, following its own earlier order in the connected SLP arising from the same impugned judgment, enhanced the compensation payable to these appellants from Rs. 7,50,000 to Rs. 7,75,000 per acre. The Court also held the appellants entitled to the usual statutory benefits (such as solatium and interest) on the enhanced amount, except for any period covered by delay in pursuing the claim. The appeal was disposed of accordingly, with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

Where multiple landowners are affected by the same acquisition and the same underlying judgment, the Supreme Court will apply a compensation rate it has already fixed for one group of claimants to other similarly-situated claimants from the same acquisition, to ensure parity, though delay in pursuing a claim can cost a claimant some of the statutory benefits otherwise due.

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

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