C.R. NAGARAJA SHETTY v. SPL. LAND ACQ. OFFICER & ESTATE OFFICER. & ANR

Citation: [2009] 2 S.C.R. 1092

Court: Supreme Court of India

Bench: TARUN CHATTERJEE, V.S. SIRPURKAR

Case summary

C.R. NAGARAJA SHETTY v. SPL. LAND ACQ. OFFICER & ESTATE OFFICER. & ANR.pdf

Judgment text

-'. - [2009]2 S. ~C. R. 1092 C. R. NAGARAJA SHETTY A. V. • SPL. LAND ACQ. OFFICER & ESTATE OFFICER. & ANR. Civil Appeal No. 1173 of 2009 FEBRUARY 24, 2009... ' . [TARUN CHATTERJEE AND V. S. ' SIRPURKAR, . JJ. ] Land Acquisition Act, 1894 ..... . Land acquisition ""'. ' Compensation .. ,. Enhanced by High Court @ Rs. 751- per tsquare. feet and deduction of Rs. 251'" towards development charges ~ On appeal, held: Compensation at the rate awarded by High· Court is correct - Deduction towards development charges not correct as the proposed deve/opmentnot proved. In_ a land acquisition case; High Court enhanced ~ompensation at the. rate of Rs. 75/". p~r square feet an~ / deducted Rs. 25/.. out of th~t -towards development ~ charges. Hence the present appeal. Partly allowing the appeal, the Court HELD: t. The. High Court was right in awarding the compensation at the rate of Rs. 75/- per square feet for the land in question. The High Court has increased the compensation from Rs. 27·.

50/- per square feet to· Rs. 75/- . ) per· square feet. The High Court observed that the land + was abutting the National Highway and was within 15 kilometers. from Bangalore City Corporation limit and further observed that all-round development has taken place, as industries have come up thereby. Appellant has not been able to show anything from the record to hold ·that the concerned land would deserve a higher price than the one awarded by the High Court. [Para 6] [1095-G; 1096-C] t- >,.. ,. ' 2. The High Court has not discussed the reason for 'I the deduction of Rs. 25/- per square feet nor has the High Court relied on any piece of evidence for that purpose. It 1092 - OFFICER & ESTATE OFFICER. & ANR. is true that where the lands are ·acquired for public purpose like setting up of industries or setting up of housing colonies or other such allied purposes, the acquiring body would be entitled to ded·uct some amount from the payable compensa~i~n.

on account of development charges, however,. it has to be established . by positive evidence that such development charges are justified. The evidence must . come for the need of development contemplated and the possible expenditure for such development. There is·no such. discussion inthe order of the High Court. No evidence was shown in support of the plea of the proposed developmei:tt. ·The land is acquired only for widening of the National Highway~ There would, therefore, be no questiOn of any ·. such development or any costs therefor. [Para 8} · [1096-E-H; 1097-A] . . i '> / N~lson Fernandes and. Ors. vs:. Speciai Land Acquisition Officer, South Goa and Ors.. 2007(9) SCC 4;. 47i Viluben Jhalejar Contractor vs. State of Gujarat 2005(4) SCC 789; Hasanali Khanbhai . and Sons vs. State of Gujara 1995 (5) SCC 422; Land Acquisition Officer vs. Nookala Rajamal/u 2003(12) · sec 334 - relied on, Case Law Reference 1. 2007(9) sc. c 447 Relied on . Para 8 ..

~ 2005(4) sec 1ss Relied on Para 8 1995 (5) sec 422 Relied on Para 8 2003(12) sec 334 Relied on Para 8 CIVILAPPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 1173 of 2009 \. .... A From the Judgement and Order dated 14. 11. 2007 of the High Court of Karnataka at Banglore in Miscellanceous First Appeal No. 1021 of 2001 (LAC). S. N. Bhat, for the Appellant. Anitha Shenoy, Rashmi Nanadakumar, Vikas Goel, R. N. 111 Sharma, K. C. Dua, for the Respondent. "· The Judgement of the Court was delivered by " V. S. SIRPURKAR, J. l; 1. Leave granted. 2. The present appeal has a slightly chequered history. Land acquisition proceedings were initiated in respect of the rtland, bearing Survey No. 4 of Beratana Agrahara Village, Segur ' Hobli, Bangalore South Taluk, measuring 35 guntas, belonging ~ to the appellant. Section 4 Notification dated 29. 11. 1990 was published on 20. 12. 1990.

After Section 5-A enquiry, declaration under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') was published on 18. 6. 1992. In the award proceedings dated 9. 12. 1994, the compensation was l ... determined at Rs. 10/- per square feet. An application for \- ~nhancement under Se~tion 18 of the Act was filed· by the ... appellant and Reference Court partly allowed the Reference and enhanced the compensation to Rs. 27. 50 per square feet. The appellant was also held to be entitled to solatium at 30% of the market value and for additional amount at 12% p. a. under f Section 23(1-A) of the Act. The Reference Court accepted that } this was non:agricultural land and was situated adjacent to the L , .. Highway and thus, it had potential for being used for commercial purpose. The public purpose for which the land was acquired, was for widening of the National Highway. l 3. Dissatisfied by the judgment of the Reference Court, an appeal was filed before the High Court.

The High Court set aside \ Ithe ord~r e>f the Reference Court, enhancing the compensation 'rand strangely enough held that the Reference Court had erred r ~ in enhancing the compensatio~. Aggrieved by the judgment of >.. ""! ' the High Court, the appellant filed a Special Leave Petition, being SLP (Civil) No. 8575 of 2006 before this Court. This Court, by its order dated 26. 2. 2007, set aside the judgment and remanded the matter to the High Court to consider the appeal. afresh. H· •.. _ Accordingly, the High Court heard the matter again and partly ; -charges are justified. The evidence must come for the need of development contemplated and the possible expenditure for such development. We do not find any such discussion in the order of the High Court. As if this is not sufficient, when we see . the judgment of the Principal Civil Judge (Sr. Division), . Bangalore, Rural bistric. t, Bangalore in Reference proceedings, we find.

that there i~ no deduction ordered for the so-called development charges. We are, therefore, not in a position to understand as to from where such development charges sprang up. The Learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents was also unable to point out any such evidence regarding the proposed development. We cannot ignore the fact that the land is acquired only for widening of the National Highway. There would, therefore, be no question of any such development or any costs therefor. In the reported judgment in Nelson Fernandes and Others Vs. Special Land Acquisition Officer, South Goa and Others in 2007(9) SCC 447, this Court has discussed the question of development charges. That was a .. case, where, the acquisition was for laying a Railway line. This Court found that the land under acquisition was situated in an area, which was adjacent to the land already acquired for the same purpose, i. e. , for laying Railway line.

In paragraph 29, the Court observed that the Land Acquisition Officer, the District Judge and the High Court had failed to notice that the purpose of acquisition was for Railways and that the purpose is a relevant factor to be taken into consideration for fixing the compensation. The Court relied on judgment in Viluben Jhalejar Contractor Vs. State of Gujarat reported in 2005(4) SCC 789, where it was held that the purpose for which the land is acquired, must also be taken into consideration in fixing the market value and the deduction of development charges. Further, in paragraph 30, the Court specifically referred to the deduction for the development charges and observed:- "30. We are not; however, oblivious of the fact that normally 113rd deduction of further amount of compensation has been directed in some cases. However, the purpose for which the land is acquired must also be taken into consideration.

In the instant case, the land was acquired for the construction of new BG line for the Konkan Railways...................... In the instant case, acquisition is for laying a railway line. Therefore, the question of ""'" 1... development thereof would not arise. " The Court made a reference to two other cases, viz. , Hasanali Khanbhai & Sons Vs. State of Gujarat and Land Acquisition Officer Vs. Nookala Rajamallu reported in 1995 (5) SCC 422 and 2003(12) SCC 334 respectively, where, the deduction by way development charges, was held permissible. The situation is no different in the present case. All· that the acquiring body has to achieve is to widen the National Highway. There is no further question of any development. We again, even at the cost of repetition, reiterate that. no evidence was shown before us in support of the plea of the proposed development. We, therefore, hold that the High Court has erred . in directing the deduction on account of the developmental charges at the _...

rate. of R$. 25/'. " per square feet out of the ordered compensation at the rate of Rs. 75/:- per square feet. We set aside the judgment to that extent. The . claimant would, therefore, be entitled to the compensation . at the rate. of Rs. 75/- per square. feet with all the statutory benefits like solatium under Section 23(2), 12% interest under Section 23(1-A) on the enhanced market value and interest at 9% and 15% as provided under Section 34 of the 0 Act for one year and the rest of the period from the date qttaking posse~sion till the date of payment of the compensation awarded in favour of the claimant. With this, we partly allow the appeal and modify the order of the High Court. K. K. T. Appeal· partly allowed. I )--