Summary
Bhoyar landowners sought increased compensation for land acquired for an industrial estate. The Court approved the same-village sale exemplar and location-based differences, rejecting automatic parity with neighbouring-village plots or valuation by intended industrial use. On the facts it increased the annual cumulative escalation from 10% to 12% and enhanced the applicable compensation bands, with corresponding uncultivable-land rates. The appeals were partly allowed, subject to specified interest exclusions for delayed appeals.
Issues
- Whether neighbouring-village prices and future industrial use required higher uniform compensation.
- Whether the escalation applied to the accepted same-village exemplar warranted adjustment.
Held
- The High Court appropriately preferred the same-village sale exemplar. The competing Lohara transactions concerned small plots or later dates and were not a sound basis for displacing it on this record. (¶¶ 7, 9-10, 14)
- Future industrial use was not the main valuation criterion for the acquired agricultural land. Compensation concerned what the owner lost; the acquiring body’s proposed use did not by itself increase market value. Development requirements also remained relevant. (¶ 11-12.1)
- Land in the same village need not command identical value. Location, access and potentiality could justify the different valuation bands retained here; a common notification or purpose did not establish universal rate parity. (¶ 13-13.2)
- A 12% cumulative annual increase over approximately three years was appropriate on these facts, rather than the High Court’s 10%. Applying the Court’s rounding and potentiality adjustment, the Rs.2 lakh band became Rs.2.25 lakh per hectare, the Rs.1.8 lakh band Rs.2 lakh and the Rs.1.5 lakh band Rs.1.75 lakh, with the operative table specifying corresponding uncultivable rates. (¶¶ 10, 14-15)
- Interest on the enhancement was excluded for the 613-day delay in Appeals 2746–2747 of 2022 and the 438-day delay in Appeal 2745 of 2022. Other available statutory benefits accompanied the enhanced compensation. (¶ 15)
Result
All appeals partly allowed. Compensation was enhanced as specified in the operative table, including uncultivable rates of Rs.1 lakh or Rs.87,500 per hectare where applicable, with available statutory benefits. Interest on enhancement was excluded for the specified delayed periods in the identified appeals. No order as to costs.