Allahabad High Court Rules Land Compensation Must Rely on 2014 Rates if Awards Were Delayed

PRAYAGRAJ — The Allahabad High Court has ruled that compensation for land acquired by the Uttar Pradesh Awas Evam Vikas Parishad must be calculated based on 2014 rates rather than 2004, if an award had not been declared by January 1, 2014.

A division bench comprising Justice Siddhartha Verma and Justice Kunal Ravi Singh issued the directive while hearing a petition filed by Dilshad Ali and five others. The court ordered that the compensation for three plots measuring a total of 45,767 square metres in Mavi Khurd village, Saharanpur, be redetermined under the new land acquisition law.

The ruling holds significant legal weight for land acquisition disputes across the state, reinforcing the principle that delays by authorities in declaring awards cannot prejudice landowners by locking compensation to outdated statutory rates.

According to the petitioners, the Housing and Development Board had acquired land in Chhunheti, Mavi Khurd and Syedpur villages under the Delhi Road Land Development and Housing Scheme. Notifications were issued on June 12, 2004, under Section 28 of the relevant act, followed by a Section 32(1) notification on August 7, 2010. Despite the process spanning years, the compensation award was not declared in time.

Counsel for the petitioners, advocate Shreya Gupta, argued that although the Parishad deposited Rs 20.39 crore with the Special Land Acquisition Officer in Saharanpur, the compensation was computed using 2004 valuation rates, ignoring the enactment of the new land acquisition law on January 1, 2014.

Appearing for the Housing Board, advocate Avnish Tripathi submitted that compensation calculations had received financial approval and funds had been deposited. He stated that the delay in declaring the award occurred at the level of the Special Land Acquisition Officer, though he acknowledged that the legal precedent established in the Hem Chandra case remained effective.

The High Court noted that its ruling in the Hem Chandra case had already been upheld by the Supreme Court. The bench reiterated that if an award is not declared by January 1, 2014, the reference date for determining compensation shifts to that date under the new land acquisition framework, though the acquisition proceedings themselves do not automatically lapse.

Directing the state authorities to complete the redetermination process within three months of submitting a certified copy of the order, the court mandated that the calculated compensation be disbursed to eligible landowners within the subsequent two months.