Delhi High Court enhances compensation for those who lost land to 1989 Yamuna channelisation

The Delhi High Court recently enhanced compensation for hundreds of landowners whose lands were acquired by the government following a notification in 1989 for urban development and to channelise the Yamuna River [Bed Ram v UOI & Anr + Connected matters]. .Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju increased the compensation from ₹89,600 per bigha to over ₹2 lakh per bigha for the villagers of Kilokari, Khizrabad, Nangli Razapur and Garhi Mendu villages. Further, since the land was acquired several years ago, the government was ordered to pay the balance amount with interest. The Court held that the government must award similar compensation to all similarly situated landowners. “In matters of compulsory acquisition, the government needs to keep in mind that the villagers whose land is acquired are not willing parties but are parties who are compelled to sell their lands to the State for public purpose. Thus, failing to award similar compensation in similar areas would lead to discrimination between the land owners,” the Court said. .The Court passed the order while dealing with over 140 appeals by the villagers of the four villages challenging the compensation amount awarded to them following the acquisition of their land. The Land Acquisition Collector originally fixed compensation at ₹27,344 per bigha, based on state policy for floodplain (Sailabi) and riverbed land. It was argued by the villagers that the true value was much higher give the location near posh colonies and rising market trends from 1959 to the notification date in 1989. However, the government argued that the acquired land had limited value due to the risk of flooding, lack of building permissions and its riverbed character. .After considering the case and examining the sale deed, the Court assessed that the land in Kilokar village should be around ₹2.07 lakhs per bigha at the time of acquisition. It added that since the lands in the other three villages were acquired under the same notification, are contiguous and have a similar topography and potentiality, they should also be awarded the same compensation.“Section 28A of the LA Act provides that where in an Award the Court allows compensation to an applicant in respect of the acquired land, all persons whose land had been similarly acquired would be awarded, the same compensation, even if they had not applied for the same. Once a particular rate of compensation is judicially determined, the benefit of such rate must be given to all persons whose land was acquired under the same Notification. Thus, all persons whose land has been similarly acquired in these four villages of Kilokari, Khizrabad, Nangli Razapur and Garhi Mendu shall also be entitled to the enhanced compensation,” it held. .Senior Advocate Dhruv Mehta with advocates Bhagwat Pd Gupta, Rajesh Gupta, Ganga Ram Upadhyay, NS Chechi, Vaibhav Chechi, Rekha Chauhan, RB Singh, Rajan Sharma, Deepak Gola, Shivansh, Anuroop, Gaurav Bidhuri, DS Chauhan, Pradeep Tokas, Prashant Katara, Aman Sinha, Amit Dhalla, Sohan Singh Rawat, Dhruv Anand, Dhananjay Khanna, Inder Singh, Rahul Chaudhary, Meghna, Pratap Singh Ahluwalia, MK Singh, Sapna Chauhan and Gaurav Dua appeared for the appellant villagers. Standing Counsel Sanjay Kumar Pathak with advocates KK Kiran Pathak, Sunil Kumar Jha, MS Akhtar, Mohd Sueb Akhtar, Divakar Kapil, Siddharth Panda, Ritank, Anil Pandey, Manisha Agrawal Narain, Shivam Sharma, Abhishek Kumar, Nidhi Raman and Arnav Mittal represented the Union of India. Senior Advocate Sanjay Poddar, Standing Counsel Mrinalini Sen with advocates Latika Malhotra, Govind Kumar, Apurv Kumar, Anamika, Shivangi Bhasin, Kunal Sharma, Vaishnav Kumar, Lucy Lalrentlaungi, Kamna Singh, Kartik Jindal, Palak Gupta, Supriya Udey, Ashutosh Kaushik and Aakash Mohar appeared for the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). .[Read Judgment].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.