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Informist, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Tuesday issued notices to landowners on National Highways Authority of India's review plea against the court's February verdict on acquired lands between 1997 and 2015. In February, the top court held that its 2019 order to grant solatium and interest to all landowners whose land was acquired by the National Highways Authority of India would apply retrospectively. The apex court will hear National Highways Authority of India's plea on Dec. 19.

 

The apex court's February verdict meant that landowners who were not given solatium and interest when their land was acquired by the highways authority from 1997 to 2015 due to an amendment in the law can now get the same. Solatium is an additional payment made to landowners whose land is acquired by the government for public projects. It is paid in addition to the market value of the land.

 

In February, the top court had rejected the highway authority's argument that it would have significant economic ramifications, placing an additional burden of approximately INR 921.8 million on the public exchequer for the payment of solatium and interest for the delayed period. The financial burden of acquiring land cannot be justified in the light of the Constitutional mandate of Article 300A of the Indian Constitution, said the court.

  

The apex court said that rendering the decision in 2019 case as prospective would create a situation where a landowner whose land was acquired on Dec. 31, 2014, would be denied the benefit of solatium and interest, whereas a landowner whose land was acquired the very next day, Jan. 1, 2015, the date on which an ordinance was promulgated, to read the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 into the National Highways Act, 1956, would be entitled to these statutory benefits.

 

The erstwhile Land Acquisition Act, 1894, facilitated the acquisition of land by the government for public purposes. The 1894 Act outlined a process that included the identification of land, issuance of a notification announcing the intent to acquire, followed by enquiries and hearings to determine the compensation payable to landowners. Additionally, the 1894 Act provided for the grant of solatium and interest under Sections 23 and 28. For a considerable period, the National Highways Act operated alongside the 1894 Act, with its provisions being "pari materia" to those of the latter. 

 

In 1997, the government inserted Section 3J, along with other provisions, in the National Highways Act through amendment. Through amendments, a number of measures were undertaken to accelerate the procedure of acquisition, whereby a determination of compensation would be made by the competent authority, and if not accepted by either party, it would then be determined by an arbitrator appointed by the central government. In addition, this newly introduced process did not envisage either solatium or interest and rather declared through Section 3J that "nothing in the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 shall apply to an acquisition under this Act (1956)".

 

In 2014, Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 came into force, and thereafter it was amended by an ordinance on Jan. 1, 2015, to make its provisions applicable to numerous enactments, including the National Highways Act. After the lapse of the ordinance, a notification was issued which specified that the provisions of the 2013 Act would apply to acquisitions carried out under the National Highways Act. 

 

In 2019, the apex court, while hearing challenges from landowners, had struck down Section 3J of the National Highways Act and accordingly allowed solatium and interest to landowners. The highways authority sought that the 2019 verdict should apply prospectively. If it is applied retrospectively, it would necessitate reopening all acquisitions made by the NHAI between 1997 and 2015, said the highway authority. Consequently, the government would be obligated to compensate every claimant whose land was acquired by the NHAI during this period, the authority added.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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