Summary
Land in village Jharli, Jhajjar, west of Bahu Road was acquired in 2007 for the Jhajjar Thermal Power Plant. The land just across the road had been acquired months earlier for Arawali Power Company, for which the Supreme Court had fixed Rs 25 lakh an acre. In one case, parts of the same survey number went to both projects. The Punjab and Haryana High Court cut the compensation back to the Collector's Rs 16 lakh, holding that the Arawali judgment's "not to be treated as precedent" remark barred reliance on it. The Supreme Court held that the lands were similarly situated, so such a disparity could not stand. The remark referred only to the parties' agreement to rely on sale deeds made after the Section 4 notification. Compensation was fixed at Rs 22 lakh an acre with statutory benefits, though some claimants who had filed late lost interest for the period of delay.
Issues
- Whether landowners whose land was acquired for the Jhajjar Thermal Power Plant were entitled to compensation comparable to that fixed for similarly situated land across the road acquired for Arawali Power Company, despite that judgment stating it was not to be treated as precedent.
Provisions considered
- Market value and statutory benefits, Land Acquisition Act, 1894Considering the comparable acquisition across the road and the evidence, just compensation was fixed at Rs 22 lakh per acre with statutory benefits and interest, save for the delay period in certain appeals. (¶¶ 8, 9, 10)
Held
- The lands acquired for the two projects lay across Bahu Road from each other in the same village, partly from the same survey number, and were similarly situated, so landowners here could not be denied just compensation comparable to that awarded for the Arawali acquisition. (¶¶ 5, 6)
- The observation in the Arawali judgment that it was rendered in the peculiar facts and not to be treated as precedent related only to the use, by consent, of sale deeds executed after the Section 4 notification, and did not justify the stark disparity. (¶ 7)
- Having regard to the evidence and the Arawali decision, Rs 22 lakh per acre was just and reasonable compensation; claimants whose belated appeals were condoned on terms are not entitled to interest for the period of delay. (¶¶ 8, 9)
Result
Appeals allowed; the High Court's common judgment modified and the landowners held entitled to Rs 22,00,000 per acre with all statutory benefits including interest, except that appellants in four specified first appeals get no interest for the delay in filing or refiling before the High Court; no order as to costs.