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The State of Haryana & Anr. etc. v. Smt. Saroj & Ors. etc.

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 567Decided 2 Jul 2018
Civil Appeal Nos. 5871-5938 of 2018
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul

Background

The State of Haryana and others appealed against a High Court judgment that fixed the value of acquired land for compensation purposes. This batch of appeals (originally Special Leave Petitions) was connected to a larger group of similar land valuation matters, the lead case being Civil Appeal No. 12847 of 2017 and other connected matters arising from the same common High Court judgment.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court noted that in the related lead matters arising from the same common judgment, it had already set aside the High Court's judgment and sent those cases back to the High Court for fresh consideration. Since those remitted matters were still pending before the High Court, the Court condoned the delay, granted leave, and disposed of this batch of appeals in the same way: by setting aside the impugned judgment and remitting the matters to the High Court to be taken up along with the other connected matters. The appellants were directed to serve copies of the judgment and appeal memorandum on the respondents within four weeks, with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

When multiple appeals arise from one common High Court judgment, the Supreme Court often disposes of all the connected appeals the same way as the lead case to keep outcomes consistent, even where that means sending the matter back to the High Court for a fresh decision rather than deciding the compensation amount itself.

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

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