Land acquisition compensation for wet land enhanced by the Supreme Court and reversed the orders of court below.
August 11, 2018
A Bench of Supreme Court Judges Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre and Justice Abdul Nazeer in Civil Appeal No. 6281-6282 of 2009, K.S. Rajan (D) Through LRs V. The State of Kerala & Anr enhanced the land acquisition compensation paid for wet land in Kerala and reversed the Judgment of courts below and partly allowed the appeal in favour of land owner.
Facts of the case
The original appellant is the owner of the land measuring around 4.30 acres
situated in the District of Kottyam (Kerala). The State of Kerala issued a
notification dated 25.11.1980 under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act,
1894 and acquired total land measuring around
30 acres in Kottayam Municipality for implementation of "multipurpose
development scheme at Kodimatha" on the acquired land. It was followed by
declaration under Section 6 of the Act. The appellant's land (4.30 acres)
was also acquired in these acquisition proceedings by notification issued
under Section 4 of the Act.
The Land Acquisition Officer (LAO) then held an enquiry, as contemplated
under Section 11 of the Act, for payment of compensation to the landowners
and by his award dated 06.08.1984 determined the compensation as under:
For Dry land : Rs.4631/- per cent
For Chira land : Rs.1725/- per cent
For Wet land : Rs.203/- per cent
The appellants felt aggrieved by the determination made by the LAO and
sought reference to the Civil Court. By award dated 28.02.1990, the
Reference Court re-determined the compensation as under:
For Dry land : Rs.7500/- per cent
For Chira land : Rs.2000/- per cent
For Wet land : Rs.2000/- per cent
Felt aggrieved by the award of the Reference Court, the State filed an
appeal in the High Court of Kerala. The High Court, by order dated
23.06.1992 allowed the appeal and remanded the case to the Reference Court
for fresh determination. After the remand, the Reference Court by award
07.01.1995 re-determined the compensation as under :
For Dry land : Rs.5000/- per cent
For Chira land : Rs.2500/- per cent
For Wet land : Rs.450/- per cent
By the aforesaid award passed by the Reference Court, the appellant felt
aggrieved and filed appeal in the High Court. By impugned order, the High
Court made partial modification in the compensation and determined the
compensation as under:
For Dry land : Rs.5000/- per cent
For Chira land : Rs.2500/- per cent
For Wet land : Rs.500/- per cent
The appellant felt aggrieved by the order passed by the High Court and filed
review petition in the High Court. By order dated 02.09.2003, the High Court
disposed of the review petition and made partial modification in the
compensation as under:
For Dry land : Rs.8000/- per cent
For Chira land : No increase
For Wet land : No increase
The original appellant (landowner) felt aggrieved by the order of the High
Court passed in main appeal as well as in the review petition, filed appeal
by way of Special Leave in Supreme Court.
While partly allowing the appeal the court said that:
"17) Even otherwise on perusal of the entire record of the case and the
findings of all the Courts below, we are of the opinion that the findings
recorded by the Reference Court in the earlier round of litigation awarding
Rs. 2000/- per cent for the wet land though set aside by the High Court in
the earlier round yet it deserves to be restored again.
18) In other words, in our view, the award of Rs.2000/- per cent for the wet
land appears to be just, proper and reasonable keeping in view the nature of
the land, its surroundings and location and similarity with the land owned
by other landowners to whom compensation was awarded at the rate of
Rs.2000/- per cent. In our opinion, it represents correct market value of
the wet land on the date of acquisition (25.11.1980) and was, therefore,
rightly determined by the Reference Court in cases of other landowners in
relation to their lands acquired in these proceedings."
"20) In this view of the matter, we are of the considered view that the
appellants are entitled to claim compensation for their wet land at the rate
of Rs. 2000/- per cent in place of Rs. 500/- per cent determined by the High
Court in the impugned order. As a necessary consequence, the appellants are
also entitled for other statutory compensation payable under the Act keeping
in view the enhancement made by this Court."
Read the Judgment of Supreme Court of India in Civil Appeal No. 6281-6282 of 2009, K.S. Rajan (D) Through LRs V. The State of Kerala & Anr dated 10.8.2018