Summary
The Supreme Court partly enhanced compensation for acquisition of land and a sugar-factory installation for a dam project. It retained the finding of non-agricultural potential, reduced the development deduction from forty to twenty per cent in light of the acquisition purpose, and restored the higher electrical dismantling and reinstallation award. Civil-work damage, machinery value and business-loss awards remained unchanged. The balance was payable with the Reference Court’s statutory benefits.
Issues
- Whether valuation and the forty-per-cent development deduction required modification.
- Whether compensation for structures, installations, machinery and business loss should be enhanced.
Held
- Concurrent findings that the remaining land had non-agricultural potential were supported by the factory project and use evidence. Absence of formal conversion permission for that part did not warrant reversing those findings on this record. (¶¶ 12, 13)
- Development deductions depend on the land, existing infrastructure and purpose of acquisition rather than an inflexible percentage. A dam project did not require housing-layout development, making forty per cent excessive; twenty per cent was reasonable here. The final land value was fixed at Rs 14,42,707. (¶¶ 14, 15, 16, 17, 22)
- The civil-work damage and material-transport assessment of Rs 4,26,890 was supported by the evidence and affirmed. The electrical-installation award was restored from Rs 2,39,000 to Rs 3,86,867, considering likely damage in dismantling and reinstallation. Machinery and mechanical-installation compensation of Rs 6,62,000 was retained. (¶¶ 18, 19, 20, 22)
- The mill had been idle and the claimants furnished no income statements establishing the claimed profits. The concurrent award of Rs 5,00,000 for business loss was therefore affirmed. Prior payments were to be accounted for in paying the balance under the modified compensation. (¶¶ 21, 22, 23)
Result
Appeals partly allowed; compensation modified as in paragraph 22, with balance payable to claimants together with the statutory benefits awarded by the Reference Court.