Anurupa Pal
Published On: March 9, 2022 at 19:52 IST
The Bench of Dr.Justice G. Jayacharan was Hearing the batch of Appeal Suits preferred by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) under Section 54 of the Act .
The Appeal was against the Awards passed by an Additional District Judge in Puducherry pertaining to the Company’s Acquisition of over 5.46 Hectares of Land as Separate Slots in Akkaraivattam Village where the said Land was already under the Lease of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) for 10 years preceding the Land Acquisition.
With respect to the Interest that must be Paid on Solatium, the Court Observed that there was an Omission from the Reference Court since Section 28 of the Act and Supreme Court Judgments mandate such interest even if the Landowners have not preferred any Cross Objection or Appeal for the Interest portion on the Solatium.
“Their Right to Seek interest in Solatium in the Appeal filed by the Third Party/ Requisition Authority has to be entertained. The Cardinal Principle in Land Acquisition is, when a person is Deprived of his Constitutional Right to Hold Property, he must be Paid a Just and Fair Compensation. Therefore, when the Statute prescribes Interest to Compensation at a particular rate (i.e) 9% per annum, from the Date of Award, till the Date of Possession plus one year and at the rate of 15% thereafter, the same has to be applied on the Solatium also, as Mandated under Section 28 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894” – the Court stated.
The Counsel acknowledged that there was No Sale in the Acquired Land since it was under the Lease of the Company for 10 years.
However, according to them, the reference Court was Justified in relying on Sale Deeds of Adjacent Lands just across the road and appreciating their Value for Fixation of the Market Value of the Land acquired by the Company.
They also clarified that these Sale Deeds are documents referred to in Sl. Nos. 46 and 47 in the Sale statistics considered by the Land Acquisition Authority and No Separate Proof is required for their Veracity.
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