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Supreme Court of India
Chitrabai vs Deputy Chief Engineer … on 18 November, 2021Author: Uday Umesh Lalit
Bench: Uday Umesh Lalit, S. Ravindra Bhat
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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NOS.6957-6958 OF 2021
(Arising out of SLP (Civil) Nos.19179-19180 of 2021
Arising out of Diary No.26546 of 2018)
CHITRABAI & ANR. ETC. Appellants
VERSUS
DEPUTY CHIEF ENGINEER (CONSTRUCTIONS),
SOUTH CENTRAL RAILWAYS-III, SECUNDERABAD & ANOTHER Respondents
O R D E R
Application for substitution preferred to bring legal
representative of the deceased appellant is allowed.
Abatement, if any, is set-aside. Cause title be amended
accordingly.
Delay condoned.
Leave granted.
These appeals challenge the judgment and order dated
25.01.2017 passed by the High Court of Karnataka, Bench at
Kalaburagi in MFA CR-OB Nos.1580/2013 and 1583/2013.
The matters arising from the same acquisition had come up
before this Court in Civil Appeal No.7642 of 2019, (titled
Signature Not Verified
Digitally signed by Dr.
Mukesh Nasa
Date: 2021.11.25
“Mahadev (D) by LRs Kalawati & Others v. Deputy Chief Engineer
19:42:18 IST
Reason:
(Constructions), South Central Railways III & Another”) and
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other connected matters, which were disposed of by this Court
vide its judgment and order dated 26.09.2019. The lands from
villages Shaikh Roza, Jafrabad and Taj Sultanpur were subject
matter of consideration before this Court. The Land
Acquisition Officer had determined the compensation in respect
of three villages as under:
(a) Lands situate in Shaikh Roza at the rate of
Rs.1,25,500/- per acre.
(b) Lands situate in Jafrabad at the rate of
Rs.71,500/- per acre.
(c) While Lands situate in Taj Sulthanpur at the
rate of Rs.63,500/- per acre.
The Reference Applications preferred by the land holders
had resulted in award of compensation by the Reference Court
in respect of lands situated in village Shaikh Roza @ Rs.187.5
per sq. ft. while compensation so determined with respect to
the village Jafrabad was @ Rs.142/- per sq. ft.
In the appeals before this Court, the lands coming from
Shaikh Roza and Jafrabad were in issue. The final
determination by this Court was as under:
“ … We, therefore, allow these appeals and direct as
under:
(a) In respect of lands coming from village
Shaikh Roza, the appellants shall be entitled to
compensation @ Rs.150 per sq. ft. as was awarded to
other lands from the same village.
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(b) In respect of lands coming from village
Jafrabad, the appellants shall be entitled to
compensation @ Rs.129.95 per sq. ft. as was awarded
to other lands from the same village.
Since none of the appeals, presently before us,
pertains to any lands coming from Tajsultanpur, we
refrain from dealing with the issue in question, as
regards the rate to be awarded to lands from
Tajsultanpur.”
The record indicates that the lands coming from villages
Jafrabad and Taj Sultanpur were treated at same level and the
compensation was so awarded. Since the compensation in respect of
lands coming from village Jafrabad was raised by this Court to the
level of Rs.129.95 per sq. ft., Ms. Kiran Suri, learned Senior
Advocate appearing for the appellants submits that the compensation
in respect of lands from village Taj Sultanpur be also put at the
same level.
The submission is vehemently opposed by Mr. Vikramjit
Banerjee, learned Additional Solicitor General appearing for the
Railways.
Considering the entirety of the matter and the extent of land
under acquisition, in our view, the ends of justice would be met if
the compensation in respect of lands from Taj Sultanpur is put at
the same level as was awarded in respect of lands of the village
Jafrabad. Ordered accordingly.
The appellants shall, therefore, be entitled to compensation
at the level of Rs.129.95 per sq. ft. for their lands from village
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Taj Sultanpur.
With these observations, the instant appeals are allowed,
without any order as to costs.
……………………J.
(UDAY UMESH LALIT)
……………………J.
(S. RAVINDRA BHAT)
New Delhi,
November 18, 2021
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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NOS.6959-6960 OF 2021
(Arising out of SLP (Civil) Nos.21-22 of 2021)
SHAKUNTALABAI ETC. Appellant(s)
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & OTHERS Respondents
O R D E R
Leave granted.
These appeals challenge the judgment and order dated
31.08.2020 passed by the High Court of Karnataka, Bench at
Kalaburagi, in MFA Nos.201769/2018 and 201770/2018.
The lands under acquisition in the instant matter come
from village Taj Sultanpur. However, as against the previous
matter (i.e. Civil Appeal Nos.6957-6958 of 2021), the
notification issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition
Act, 1894 in the instant case was five years later. One of
the methods adopted by the High Court and the Courts below in
the instant case was to take the value awarded in the earlier
acquisition to be the base value and then grant accretion per
year @ 10 per cent. Adopting the same methodology, in our
view, the base value for lands from the village Taj Sultanpur
has to be taken at the level of Rs.129.95 per sq. ft.
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Considering enhancement @ 10% per annum, enhancement to the
tune of 50% has to be awarded in the present matter.
We, therefore, proceed to award Rs.195 per sq. ft. in
respect of lands from village Taj Sultanpur in the instant
matter.
The appeals are, accordingly, allowed to the aforesaid
extent, without any order as to costs.
……………………J.
(UDAY UMESH LALIT)
……………………J.
(S. RAVINDRA BHAT)
New Delhi,
November 18, 2021
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