SC says payment of solatium, interest must for land taken to build highways

Apex court ruling could spell further trouble for NHAI whose land acquisition costs have been on the rise

The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that landowners must be given solatium and interest apart from compensation awarded to them, when their land is acquired for construction of highways.

A two-judge Bench of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Surya Kant ruled that Section 3J of the National Highways Act was violative of Article 14 of the Constitution

of India. The section says that no provision of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, shall apply to an acquisition under the National Highways Act.

The judgment was passed on a bunch of petitions filed by the central government challenging an order of the Punjab and