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The Executive Engineer, Nimna Dudhna Project v. The State of Maharashtra & Others

Civil Appeal · 2020 INSC 45Decided 15 Jan 2020
Civil Appeal Nos. 246-255 of 2020
Justice Ashok Bhushan · Justice M.R. Shah

Background

Land was acquired for an irrigation project in Maharashtra, and a batch of landowners' first appeals (filed five and a half years late) were allowed by the High Court, which enhanced their compensation to match what other landowners for the same project had already received, and also awarded statutory benefits and interest for the entire period, including the years of delay. The government body that acquired the land (the Executive Engineer) appealed, not disputing the compensation increase itself, but objecting specifically to being made to pay interest for the period that the claimants themselves had delayed in approaching the court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court partly allowed the appeals. It agreed that the compensation amount itself, and the condoning of the delay in filing the appeals, were correctly decided and could not be reopened. However, relying on its own earlier precedents, it held that a public body should not be saddled with paying interest for a period of delay that was not its fault: if claimants take years to come to court, they cannot also claim interest on the extra compensation for that same delayed period. The High Court's order was modified only to remove the interest for the delay period, while the rest of the compensation award was left undisturbed.

Lesson Learnt

If you delay challenging a compensation order for years before going to court, you may still eventually win a higher compensation amount, but you generally cannot also claim interest on that increase for the years you yourself took to act.

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

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