Gujarat HC sets aside compensation awarded to farmers for acquiring land for road projects

The Gujarat High Court Monday quashed the compensation awarded to farmers for land acquired for a national highway and an expressway, and ordered their redetermination in accordance with law.

The land was acquired by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for building a highway between Bhavnagar and Veraval and the Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway.

A division bench of acting Chief Justice Anant Dave and Justice Biren Vaishnav set aside the compensation awarded to the farmers for the two projects and sent the matter to the competent authority for redetermination.

This was done after both parties involved in the matter arrived at a consensus, said A J Yagnik, the lawyer for petitioners.

Twelve pleas were filed in the high court, challenging the legality of the method adopted by the land acquisition officer in arriving at the compensation amount for the farmers.

According to the petitions, the officer did not follow the Centre's notification stating that the provisions of Right to Fair Compensation in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, with regard to compensation for land owners and determination of the market value, will be followed for acquiring land under the National Highways Act, 1956.

The respondent, NHAI, continued to acquire land under the 1956 Act, the petitions said, adding no step was taken to update the market value of the land under acquisition.

The authorities also did not take into account a set of detailed guidelines issued by the NHAI for implementation of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 while determining the amount of compensation, they said.