Summary
Landowners challenged the fifty-percent deduction applied to small-plot sale exemplars when valuing land acquired for defence security forces. The exemplars’ suitability had become final because the Chandigarh Administration had not appealed. Considering location, highway frontage, acquisition purpose and the difference in plot sizes, the Court reduced the deduction to forty percent and enhanced compensation to Rs.13,54,200 per acre, with a specified interest exclusion for two delayed appeals.
Issues
- Whether the unexplained fifty-percent deduction from the accepted sale exemplars was justified.
- What compensation and statutory benefits followed, including for the appellants whose special leave petitions were delayed.
Held
- The administration had not appealed the High Court’s acceptance of the two sale deeds as the best exemplars. Their suitability was therefore final for the present appeals. (¶ 4)
- A deduction was warranted because the exemplars concerned comparatively smaller plots than the acquired tract. The land’s location, partial frontage on National Highway 21 and acquisition purpose nevertheless supported a forty-percent deduction on these particular facts, rather than fifty percent. (¶ 5-7)
- At the parties’ request the Court determined the appropriate deduction itself instead of remanding. Applying forty percent yielded compensation of Rs.13,54,200 per acre. (¶¶ 5.1, 7-8)
- Statutory benefits were payable on the enhanced compensation. The appellants in Civil Appeals 1805–1806 of 2022 were denied interest on that enhancement for the 1,033-day delay in filing their special leave petitions, while solatium on the enhanced compensation remained payable for the delay period. (¶ 8)
Result
Appeals partly allowed without costs. Compensation was enhanced to Rs.13,54,200 per acre with statutory benefits. For Civil Appeals 1805–1806 of 2022, interest on the enhancement was excluded for the 1,033-day filing delay, while solatium remained payable.