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Informist, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court came down heavily on Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board officers' "lethargic attitude" of depriving compensation to landowners with respect to their lands acquired for the infrastructure corridor project connecting Bengaluru-Mysuru. The apex court asked the Special Land Acquisition Officer-1 of Karnataka Board to pass a fresh award within two months, taking the market value prevailing as of Apr. 22, 2019, when the original compensation award was passed, and not 2011 which the officer had earlier taken.

 

The apex court noted that landowners in the present case were required to knock at the doors of the courts on a number of occasions in last 22 years and were deprived of their property without paying any compensation. The court said that the landowners had purchased the land for construction of residential houses. Not only have they not been able to construct houses, they have also not been paid any compensation for the same, said the apex court. Though the Right to Property is no more a fundamental right, in view of the provisions of Article 300-A of the Constitution of India, it is a constitutional right, said the court. "A person cannot be deprived of his property without him being paid adequate compensation in accordance with law for the same," the court added.

 

The court said that if the compensation to be awarded at the market value as of the year 2003 was permitted, it would amount to permitting a travesty of justice and making the constitutional provisions under Article 300-A a mockery. "It can also not be controverted that money is what money buys. The value of money is based on the idea that money can be invested to earn a return, and that the purchasing power of money decreases over time due to inflation," said the court. What the landowners herein could have bought with the compensation in 2003 cannot do in 2025, the court added.

 

From 1995 to 1997, the petitioner Bernard Francis Joseph and other parties had purchased various residential sites at Gottigere village in Karnataka. In 1997, a framework agreement was executed between Karnataka government and Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise Ltd. envisaging the infrastructure corridor project connecting Bengaluru-Mysuru. For this, the state government had undertaken to acquire a total of 20,193 acres of land, which included 13,247 acres from private persons.

 

In 2003, a final notification was issued by the special deputy commissioner, Karnataka board, for acquiring lands for the project. Thereafter, in 2005, the possession of the land was taken over by Karnataka board and handed over to Nandi Infrastructure Corridor and its sister concern. However, no award was passed immediately for such acquisitions. 

 

After various litigations, Special Land Acquisition Officer-1 of Karnataka board in 2019 passed an award for compensation in respect of lands belonging to erstwhile land-owners. The Special Land Acquisition Officer-1 decided to postpone the date of its preliminary notification on acquiring land from 2003 to 2011. Accordingly, the officer decided to consider the guideline rates prevailing in 2011 and formulate an award. An amount of INR 326.95 million was awarded for 11 acres and 1.25 Guntas of land. 

 

Thereafter, Nandi Infrastructure Corridor and its sister concern moved the Karnataka High Court challenging the award on payment of higher compensation. Nandi Infrastructure Corridor and its sister concern said that the compensation should be determined on the basis of the market value of land as on the date of the preliminary notification in 2003 and that the date could not have been shifted. Meanwhile, the landowners said though their land was acquired in 2003, no compensation for such acquisition had been disbursed to them. The landowners said that the compensation should be determined as per the current market value of the lands.

 

The Karnataka High Court in 2022 quashed the award passed by the land acquisition officer. Further, the high court directed the authorities to pass fresh awards in accordance with law and after providing sufficient and reasonable opportunity to the parties as expeditiously as possible and at any rate within a period of three months. Challenging the high court’s order, the landowners moved the apex court.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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