Jaspal Singh vs The State Of Haryana

REPORTABLE IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 7516-7521 OF 2022 (Arising from SLP(Civil) Nos.18536-18541/2022 @ Diary No. 29052/2022

Jaspal Singh & Others ...Appellants Versus The State of Haryana and Others …Respondents

WITH CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 7524-7531 OF 2022 (Arising from SLP(Civil) Nos.18542-18549/2022 @ Diary No. 30076/2022 CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 7447-7448 OF 2022 (Arising from SLP(Civil) Nos.15253-15254/2022 CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 7449-7477 OF 2022 (Arising from SLP(Civil) Nos.16628-16656/2022 CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 7478-7512 OF 2022 (Arising from SLP(Civil) Nos.16657-16691/2022 CIVIL APPEAL NO. 7513 OF 2022 (Arising from SLP(Civil) No.16922/2022 CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 7545-7579 OF 2022 (Arising from SLP(Civil) Nos.18560-18594/2022 @ Diary No. 18937/2022 CIVIL APPEAL NO. 7544 OF 2022 (Arising from SLP(Civil) No.18559/2022 @ Diary No. 25947/2022 CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 7581-7584 OF 2022 (Arising from SLP(Civil) Nos.17936-17939/2022

JUDGMENT

M.R. SHAH, J.

1. Signature Not Verified Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned common Digitally signed by NIRMALA NEGI Date: 2022.10.20 16:49:19 IST Reason: judgment and order dated 21.03.2022 passed by the High Court of

1 Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in R.F.A. No. 2086/2016 and other

allied first appeals, by which the High Court has allowed the appeals

preferred by the respondents herein and has dismissed the appeals

preferred by the appellants herein – original claimants/landowners, the

original claimants/landowners have preferred the present appeals.

2. The facts leading to the present appeals in a nutshell are as under:

That the lands situated at village Jharli, District Jhajjar, Haryana

came to be acquired for Jhajjar Thermal Power Plant. Notification under

Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as

the ‘Act 1894’) came to be issued on 09.04.2007. Declaration under

Section 6 of the Act, 1894 was issued on 13.11.2007. The Land

Acquisition Collector declared the award under Section 11 of the Act,

1894 and determined and awarded compensation at Rs. 16,00,000/- per

acre. The Reference Court enhanced the amount of compensation to

Rs. 17,64,350/- per acre. The acquiring body/beneficiary as well as the

original claimants/landowners both preferred appeals before the High

Court challenging the judgment and award passed by the Reference

Court, awarding compensation at Rs. 17,64,350/- per acre. By the

impugned common judgment and order, the High Court has allowed the

appeals preferred by the State/acquiring body and dismissed the

appeals preferred by the original claimants/landowners and has reduced

2 the amount of compensation to Rs.16,00,000/- per acre, as determined

and awarded by the Land Acquisition Collector. The impugned common

judgment and order passed by the High Court is the subject matter of

present appeals at the instance of the original claimants/landowners.

2.1 At this stage, it is required to be noted that in the present case the

acquiring lands of village Jharli were on the west side of Bahu Road,

Jhajjar, Haryana. Simultaneously, the lands of village Jharli situated on

the east side of Bahu Road, Jhajjar, Haryana came to be acquired for

Arawali Power Company Private Limited. The said lands were just

opposite of the land acquired for Jhajjar Thermal Power Plant and in one

case – in the case of Jagvir (appellant in Civil Appeal Nos.7447-

7448/2022), the lands acquired for both the projects were out of the

same survey No. 73. For acquisition of the lands for Arawali Power

Company Private Limited, notification under Section 4 of the Act, 1894

was issued on 16.01.2007. Declaration under Section 6 was issued on

12.04.2007. The Land Acquisition Collector determined and awarded

compensation at Rs. 16,00,000/- per acre. The Reference Court also

determined compensation at Rs.16,00,000/- per acre. However, the

High Court enhanced the amount of compensation to Rs. 29,00,400/-

per acre. By common judgment and order dated 05.09.2017, this Court

allowed the appeals preferred by Arawali Power Company Private

3 Limited and dismissed the appeals preferred by the landowners/original

claimants by determining compensation at Rs.25,00,000/- per acre (Civil

Appeal No. 8757 of 2016 and connected appeals, decided on

05.09.2017).

2.2 Before the High Court, at the time of hearing of the present

appeals, the original claimants/landowners relied upon the decision of

this Court in the case of Arawali Power Company Private Limited

(supra). However, considering the observations made by this Court

while awarding compensation at the rate of Rs. 25,00,000/- per acre that

“in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case and not to be treated

as precedent “, the High Court has not followed the said judgment and

has determined compensation at the rate of Rs. 16,00,000/- per acre, as

determined by the Land Acquisition Collector. Hence, the present

appeals at the instance of the landowners/original claimants.

3. Shri Shyam Divan, learned Senior Advocate appearing on behalf

of the original claimant/landowner in Civil Appeal Nos. 7447-7448 of

2022, arising out of R.F.A. Nos. 2086 & 2087 of 2016 has vehemently

submitted that the lands acquired in the present case for Jhajjar Thermal

Power Plant and the lands acquired for Arawali Power Company Private

Limited are similarly situated. It is submitted that even in the case of the

4 appellant/landowner/original claimant in Civil Appeal Nos. 7447-

7448/2022, the land in both the cases have been acquired out of the

very land bearing survey No. 73 and in between only one road – Bahu

Road is passing. It is submitted that therefore the appellant shall be

entitled to the compensation at the rate of Rs. 25,00,000/- per acre, as

determined by this Court in the case of Arawali Power Company Private

Limited (supra).

3.1 It is further submitted that the landowners/original claimants are

entitled to just compensation. It is submitted that as such there is no

difference between the lands acquired for Jhajjar Thermal Power Plant

and the lands acquired for Arawali Power Company Private Limited,

except that one road – Bahu Road is passing between the lands

acquired for both the projects. It is submitted that it may not be that for

one part of the land, the compensation will be at Rs. 16,00,000/- per

acre and for another part of the very land/survey No. 73, the

compensation will be at Rs. 25,00,000/- per acre. Therefore, it is prayed

to allow the present appeals accordingly.

3.2 The other learned Senior Advocates/Advocates appearing for the

respective landowners/original claimants have adopted the submissions

made by Shri Shyam Divan, learned Senior Advocate.

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4. All these appeals are opposed by Shri Neeraj Kishan Kaul, learned

Senior Advocate representing the Jhajjar Thermal Power Plant.

4.1 So far as the reliance placed upon the decision of this Court in the

case of Arawali Power Company Private Limited (supra) is concerned, it

is submitted that the said judgment may not be applied as in the said

judgment, it is specifically observed by this Court that the said judgment

is in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case and not to be

treated as precedent. It is submitted that therefore the High Court has

rightly not awarded compensation as awarded in the case of Arawali

Power Company Private Limited (supra).

4.2 It is submitted that in the present case the claimants relied upon

two sale exemplars/sale deeds which were executed in the year 2010,

i.e., post Section 4 notification and one sale deed/sale exemplar dated

16.05.2007 was with respect to small parcel of land. It is submitted that

therefore the High Court has rightly not relied upon on the sale

exemplars/sale deeds post Section 4 notification. It is submitted that

thereafter having observed that the claimants/landowners have not led

any evidence to give the comparative geographical location and

evidence to the effect that these sale instances are comparable, the

High Court has rightly allowed the appeals preferred on behalf of the

6 Jhajjar Thermal Power Plant and has rightly determined the

compensation at the rate of Rs. 16,00,000/- per acre.

4.3 Learned counsel representing the State of Haryana has supported

the impugned common judgment and order passed by the High Court

and has fully endorsed the submissions made by the learned counsel

appearing on behalf of the Jhajjar Thermal Power Plant.

5. We have heard learned counsel for the respective parties at

length.

At the outset, it is required to be noted that with respect to the

lands acquired for Arawali Power Company Private Limited for which

notification under Section 4 of the Act, 1894 was issued on 16.01.2007,

this Court had determined the compensation at the rate of Rs.

25,00,000/- per acre. It is required to be noted that the lands acquired in

the present case and the lands acquired for Arawali Power Company

Private Limited were of the same village Jharli, District Jhajjar, Haryana.

The only difference is that the lands acquired for Jhajjar Thermal Power

Plant are on the west side of Bahu Road, Jhajjar, whereas the lands

acquired for Arawali Power Project were on the east side of Bahu Road,

Jhajjar. The lands acquired in both the cases are just across the Bahu

Road, Jhajjar, Haryana. At this stage, it is required to be noted that out

of the lands acquired, the land bearing survey No. 73 owned by the 7 original landowner – Jagvir (appellant in Civil Appeal Nos. 7447-7448 of

2022) was also acquired for both the projects. The resultant effect

pursuant to the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court

would be that with respect to some portion of land out of survey No. 73

acquired for Jhajjar Thermal Power Plant, the landowner will get

compensation at the rate of Rs. 16,00,000/- per acre and with respect to

other parcel of land out of survey No. 73 acquired for Arawali Power

Project, the landowner will be getting compensation at the rate of Rs.

25,00,000/- per acre.

6. Having considered the location of the lands acquired for Jhajjar

Thermal Power Plant as well as Arawali Power Project, we are of the

opinion that the lands acquired for both the projects can be said to be

similarly situated with some difference in the time gap of issuance of

section 4 notification. Once the landowners whose lands have been

acquired for Arawali Power Project are held to be entitled to

compensation at Rs. 25,00,000/- per acre, the landowners whose lands

have been acquired for Jhajjar Thermal Power Plant cannot be denied

the just and reasonable compensation. There will be a vast difference in

amount of compensation for the lands acquired for Jhajjar Thermal

Power Plant and the Arawali Power Project, which as observed

hereinabove can be said to be similarly situated. In one case, the

8 landowners/claimants are held to be entitled to compensation at the rate

of Rs. 16,00,000/- per acre (in the case of lands acquired for Jhajjar

Thermal Power Plant) and with respect to the lands acquired for Arawali

Power Project, the landowners/claimants are entitled to compensation at

the rate of Rs. 25,00,000/- per acre.

7. It may be true that while determining compensation at the rate of

Rs. 25,00,000/- per acre by this Court in the case of Arawali Power

Company Private Limited (supra), the words used are “in the peculiar

facts of the case and not to be treated as precedent”. However, the said

words “in the peculiar facts of the case and not to be treated as

precedent” are to be considered in the context in which the same are

used. From the observations and order passed by this Court, wherever

the words used are “in the peculiar facts of the case and not to be

treated as precedent”, the same can be said to be with respect to

consideration of the sale deeds which were executed in the year 2010

(post section 4 notification). As the sale deeds/sale exemplars which

were considered by this Court were post section 4 notification, this Court

had taken into consideration the sale deeds post section 4 notification by

observing that it was agreed between the parties that the subsequent

sale deeds were bona fide and could be taken into consideration. The

observations that “in the peculiar facts of the case and not to be treated

9 as precedent” are to be construed while considering the sale deeds

executed post section 4 notification. As per the settled position of law,

normally the sale deeds/sale exemplars post section 4 notification may

not be taken into consideration. However, as it was agreed between the

parties that the subsequent sale deeds were bona fide and could be

taken into consideration, to that and in the peculiar facts of the case and

not to be treated as precedent, this Court had taken into consideration

the subsequent sale deeds and determined compensation at Rs.

25,00,000/- per acre after giving a reasonable deduction, i.e., 15%

deduction.

8. However, at the same time, considering the evidence on record

and the sale instances which were relied upon on behalf of the

landowners and while considering the fact that the landowners shall be

entitled to just and reasonable compensation for the lands acquired and

taking into consideration the decision of this Court in the case of Arawali

Power Company Private Limited (supra), we are of the opinion that if the

landowners in the present case are awarded compensation at the rate of

Rs. 22,00,000/- per acre, the same can be said to be just and

reasonable compensation. The impugned common judgment and order

is required to be modified to the aforesaid extent.

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9. Now so far as the landowners in the appeals arising out of RFA

Nos. 4322/2016, 4682/2016, 804/2017 and 805/2017 are concerned,

considering the order passed by the High Court dated 17.08.2018

passed while condoning the delay in filing/refiling the appeals on

condition that the landowners shall not be entitled to interest on the

enhanced amount of compensation, if any, the landowners shall not be

entitled to interest for the period of delay in filing/refiling the said appeals

before the High Court.

10. In view of the above and for the reasons stated above, the present

appeals succeed. The impugned common judgment and order passed

by the High Court is hereby modified and it is observed and directed that

the landowners whose lands have been acquired for Jhajjar Thermal

Power Plant shall be entitled to compensation at the rate of Rs.

22,00,000/- per acre. The landowners shall also be entitled to all the

statutory benefits including interest which may be available under the

Act, 1894. However, it is observed and directed that so far as the

landowners in the appeals arising out of RFA Nos. 4322/2016,

4682/2016, 804/2017 and 805/2017 are concerned, they shall not be

entitled to any interest on the enhanced amount of compensation for the

period of delay in filing/refiling the appeals before the High Court.

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11. All these appeals are allowed to the aforesaid extent. However, in

the facts and circumstances of the case, there shall be no order as to

costs.

…………………………………….J. [M.R. SHAH]

NEW DELHI; ……………………………………..J. OCTOBER 20, 2022. [M.M. SUNDRESH]

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