Summary
Land in Village Gheja Tilapatabad was acquired for NOIDA by a notification of 22 November 1982. The Reference Court dismissed the owners' reference in 1989, and review was refused in 1998. Some 16 years later the owners appealed. The Allahabad High Court condoned the delay without interest for the delayed period and raised compensation to Rs 297 per sq. yard, the rate awarded for nearby 1986/1988 acquisitions. The Supreme Court left the condonation undisturbed. On the rate, it applied Asha Ram v. U.P. Awas Evam Vikas Parishad, which fixed Rs 120 per sq. yard for 1982 acquisitions, because rates for land acquired five years later, after intervening development, cannot be the yardstick.
Issues
- Whether the High Court erred in condoning a delay of about 16 years in filing a first appeal against the Reference Court's award.
- Whether land acquired under a 1982 notification can be compensated at Rs 297 per sq. yard, the rate fixed for nearby lands acquired in 1986/1988.
Provisions considered
- Sections 4, 6, 18 and 23, Land Acquisition Act, 1894Compensation for the 1982 acquisition was redetermined at Rs 120 per sq. yard with statutory benefits and interest, excluding statutory benefits and interest on the enhanced amount for the period of delay in appealing. (¶¶ 2.1, 5.2, 6)
Held
- In the peculiar facts, and since the High Court while condoning the delay had denied interest for the delayed period, its discretion to entertain the appeal after about 16 years was not interfered with. (¶ 5.1)
- The Rs 297 per sq. yard rate in Narendra v. State of U.P. and the decisions relied on related to acquisitions of 1986/1988 in Village Makanpur and nearby villages; following Asha Ram v. U.P. Awas Evam Vikas Parishad, compensation fixed on a notification five years later, after development had taken place, cannot be the yardstick for land acquired in 1982, and the claimants are entitled to Rs 120 per sq. yard. (¶ 5.2)
Result
Civil Appeal No. 9085 of 2022 partly allowed without costs; the Allahabad High Court judgment dated 28.01.2020 in First Appeal Defective No. 308 of 2015 modified to award compensation at Rs 120 per sq. yard with statutory benefits and interest, but without statutory benefits or interest on the enhanced amount from the rejection of the review application until the first appeal was filed.