Category: Land Acquisition

National Highways Act, 1956 — Amendments and compensation provisions — Section 3-J introduced in 1997 removed applicability of Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1894 Act) provisions for solatium and interest — Overturned by various High Courts, including reading down Sections 3-G and 3-J to grant solatium and interest — Subsequently, Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (2013 Act) and its amended provisions extended to NH Act — Court clarified that landowners acquired lands under NH Act between 1997 and 2015 are entitled to solatium and interest — Review Petition filed by NHAI arguing financial burden was underestimated rejected, but clarification on delayed claims issued.

2026 INSC 291 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH NATIONAL HIGHWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA Vs. TARSEM SINGH AND OTHERS ( Before : Surya Kant, CJI and Ujjal Bhuyan, J. )…

Land Acquisition Act, 1894 — Section 28-A — Re-determination of compensation — Second application for re-determination based on High Court award maintainable even after accepting compensation based on Reference Court award — Principle of merger means appellate court’s award supersedes earlier award, entitling landowners to benefit from higher compensation — Object of Section 28-A is to ensure equality in compensation among similarly placed landowners.

2026 INSC 293 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH ANDANAYYA AND OTHERS Vs. DEPUTY CHIEF ENGINEER AND OTHERS ( Before : M. M. Sundresh and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh, JJ. )…

Land Acquisition — Setting aside of award — Grounds for — Excessive compensation, unjust enrichment, collusion with officials — Impact on entire acquisition — Held, setting aside an award for excessive compensation due to unjust enrichment and collusion does not automatically invalidate the entire acquisition award concerning all landowners.

2026 INSC 86 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH NIRAJ JAIN Vs. COMPETENT AUTHORITY-CUM-ADDITIONAL COLLECTOR, JAGDALPUR AND OTHERS ( Before : Sanjay Kumar and K. Vinod Chandran, JJ. ) Civil…

Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975 — Section 3(3A) — Amendment Act, 2020 — Retrospective validation of actions — Power to grant license includes power to modify, suspend, revoke, or delicense — Delicensing of land for commercial purposes after it was initially licensed for residential use is permissible.

2026 INSC 77 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH RAJ SINGH GEHLOT AND OTHERS Vs. AMITABHA SEN AND OTHERS ( Before : J.B. Pardiwala and Sandeep Mehta, JJ. ) Civil…

Land Acquisition Act, 1894 — Section 18 — Maharashtra Industrial Development Act, 1961 — Compensation — Enhancement of — While determining market value, the highest bona fide sale exemplar should generally be considered, not an average of varying sale prices, unless prices have only marginal variations — Averaging of sale instances with significantly different prices is impermissible. Section 51A — Evidence — Certified copies of sale deeds have presumptive value as evidence of the transaction recorded therein — If the state does not produce rebuttal evidence, these documents can be relied upon to determine market value.

2025 INSC 900 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MANOHAR AND OTHERS Vs. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND OTHERS ( Before : B.R. Gavai, CJI and Augustine George Masih, JJ.…

Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013— Finality of Determinations— The Court established a precedent that once determinations regarding compensation and entitlements have been adjudicated and approved by the Court, they cannot be reopened by the Claims Commission based on changes in policy— This applies specifically to the ten villages for which reports were previously finalised— This means that the Commission should not re-evaluate or re-adjudicate cases that have already been settled.

2025 INSC 22 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MAHANADI COAL FIELDS LTD. AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. MATHIAS ORAM AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Bela M. Trivedi…

Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 — Section 24(2) — Interpretation of — The court clarified that for land acquisition proceedings initiated under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1894 Act), to lapse under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act, both conditions of non-payment of compensation and non-taking of possession must be fulfilled.

2024 INSC 456 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH DELHI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY — Appellant Vs. TEJPAL AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan,…

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