Summary
The State could not retain a widow’s land taken for a road without acquisition or compensation by invoking adverse possession or delay. Treating the uncompensated taking as a continuing cause of action, the Court ordered compensation on the terms awarded to an adjoining landowner, with statutory benefits, as a deemed acquisition.
Issues
- Whether the State could resist compensation for an admitted taking without acquisition by pleading adverse possession or laches.
- What compensation and consequential relief should be granted.
Provisions considered
- Article 300A, Constitution of IndiaProperty cannot be taken without authority of law; lawful procedure and compensation protect the owner against forcible State dispossession. (¶¶ 10.2, 10.3, 10.5)
Held
- The admitted taking lacked legal sanction and lawful acquisition procedure; the asserted oral consent was baseless. Property was a fundamental right when the taking occurred and remained a constitutional and human right. (¶¶ 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5)
- A welfare State cannot perfect title to its citizens’ property by invoking adverse possession to justify such a taking. (¶ 10.6)
- The uncompensated expropriation constituted a continuing cause of action. In the compelling circumstances, delay and laches did not defeat constitutional relief, and the Court exercised Articles 136 and 142 to order compensation. (¶¶ 10.7, 11)
- Compensation must match the terms of the specified Reference Court award in the adjoining owner’s case, with all statutory benefits including solatium and interest, within eight weeks; compliance affidavit is due within ten weeks. An appeal filed within eight weeks of payment would be treated as timely and decided on its merits. (¶ 13)
Result
Appeals allowed and both High Court orders set aside. The State must pay compensation with statutory benefits within eight weeks as a deemed acquisition, file a compliance affidavit within ten weeks, and pay legal costs and expenses. The appellant received the specified liberty to appeal after payment.