Khushi Doshi
Published on: April 25, 2022 at 13:51 IST
The Bombay High Court recently overturned a Maharashtra Government announcement that barred anyone affected by the Nagpur-Mumbai Express Highway Project (Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg) from receiving Compensation for Land Acquisition based on the property’s current market value.
The State Government had decided to use the ready reckoner’ (the minimum rate of property transactions issued by the Government through the Revenue Office) as defined by the Maharashtra Stamp Act for assessing the market value of land in a resolution dated August 13, 2018.
The Government also set the compensation to be given to the owners of the property it had purchased based on this rate.
The Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg project, however, was exempted from the circular by a Corrigendum announcement issued in September 2018.
This meant that the compensation recipients would not receive the same amount as the ready reckoner rate.
Instead, the Government suggested basing Remuneration on the Compensation paid for 83 percent of the essential property it had already acquired through private deals.
This Corrigendum was challenged in the present Case on the grounds that the Government could not distinguish between projects when calculating compensation for land acquisition, which was a Violation of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution.
A Division Bench of Justices SV Gangapurwala and Vinay Joshi agreed, holding that passing such a Corrigendum was within the Executive’s Powers.
The Corrigendum effectively permitted the Government to avoid paying market-rate Compensation to owners of property that will be acquired for the expressway under the Maharashtra Stamp Act.
