Land Acquisition

  1. Determination of compensation — Criteria — According to certain old celebrated principle of law, if it could be summarized in one word, is it is the prevailing value of the property. Azad Govt. of State of J&K through its Chief Secretary, having his office at new Secretariat  Complex, Muzaffarabad and 7 others v. Sahibzada Raja M. Hanif Khan and others 2013 SCR 513 (A)
  2. Determination of market value — Provision of R. 10 — Effect — The provision of Rule 10 of the Rules, 1994 have no nexus and application for determination of market value for the purpose of award. Azad Govt. of State of JK through its Chief Secretary, having his office at new Secretariat Complex, Muzf’abad  v. Sahibzada R.M. Hanif Khan  2013 SCR  513 (C)
  3. Determination of amount of compensation — Consideration. Marawat Khan v. Collector Land Acquisition, Mangla Dam Raising Project, Zone-1, Mirpur and 2 others  2013 SCR 1224 (B)
  4. Price of land — Assessment principle — The land is not to be valued merely by reference to the use to which it is being put at the relevant time, but also by a reference to the use to which it is reasonably capable of being put in future; and the market value is the potential value of the property at the time of acquisition which would be paid by a willing buyer to a willing seller, when both are actuated by business principles prevalent in the locality at that time — The price of land acquired had to be fixed in accordance with the aim and rule that willing buyer was ready to pay and willing seller was prepared to receive the price so fixed for whole of the land, had to be kept in view. Marawat Khan and 4 others Versus Collector Land Acquisition, Mangla Dam Raising Project, Zone-1, Mirpur and 2 others 2013 SCR (SC AJ&K) 1224 (C)
  5. —valuation of built-up property, brick kiln —reliance upon Joint Valuation Team of WAPDA—Contention: that the joint team of the Civil Engineers after thoroughly examining the quality and quantity of the material used in the acquired brick kiln, prepared the building replacement cost valuation, therefore, the Collector rightly determined the compensation on the basis of the said valuation. Held: if the Civil Engineers of the joint team prepared a wrong estimate in any case, that cannot be followed blindly. In the instant case, sole reliance cannot be placed on the estimate prepared by the joint team of Civil Engineers especially when the appellant, WAPDA, failed to bring on record anything to rebut the evidence brought on the record by the owner of the brick kiln. Appeal dismissed in circumstances. WAPDA & 2 others v. Iftikhar Ali & 2 others 2020 SCR 258 (A)
  6. —Determination of compensation—Collector Land Acquisitioned determined the compensation amount of the land keeping in view the average of the previous years—Land owners feelings dissatisfied—filed reference—In support of their claim, they produced sale-deeds—executed in the same yeas—the Reference Judge while relaying upon the documentary evidence, i.e., sale-deeds, enhanced the compensation amount—the appellant felt aggrieved—-preferred an appeal before the High Court—which was dismissed—Held:Both the sale-deeds have been executed in the same year and are nearest to the date of issuance of the notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, therefore, the compensation has rightly been assessed by the Reference Judge. Program Manager DRU vs Abdul Razzaq Khan & others 2018 SCR 321 (A)
  7. —Determination of compensation of the acquired land— advisory committee—The Collector has drawn up the award on basis of the assessment made by the advisory committee which has been declared unconstitutional and illegal in the various judgments of this Court. Program Manager DRU vs Abdul Razzaq Khan & others 2018 SCR 321 (B) PLJ 2013 SC (AJK) 274 ref
  8. —award of compensation—it is settled principle of law that where the lands are acquired without the consent of the landowners under the powers of the State, the maximum benefits should have been awarded to the land-owners. WAPDA v. Muhammad Baroo & others  2019 SCR 479 (A) 2017 SCR 915 rel
  9. No question without payment of compensation—except of surrendered with free will—acquisition of land for widening of road without paying compensation—property cannot be acquired without paying compensation on pretext that others have surrendered their land without compensation—free will/consent of owner of property is sine qua non for acquisition of same without paying compensation—-it may be observed that the right of property has been recognized by the Constitution which is the supreme law of the land and no deviation can be made from it. Thus, no person can be deprived of his legal right on the pretext that the others have surrendered their rights. Even otherwise, the petitioners have not denied the stance taken by the respondent/petitioner in the High Court and nothing is on the record from where it could be ascertained that the respondent has given his free-will/consent for widening of the road without paying him the compensation of the land. In this way, he cannot be deprived of his right of property without following the procedure provided under law. Azad Govt. & others v. Raheem Dad & others 2019 SCR 556 (A)
  10. —determination of market value—small pieces of land–relevant for determination of—Azad Jammu and Kashmir is hilly area and the people are holding very small pieces of land and most of the people are not willing to sell the same; therefore, the small pieces of land in AJ&K are also relevant for determination of the market value of the acquired land and compensation thereof.   Zain-ul-Hasnain Rizvi v. Azad Govt. & 3 others 2019 SCR 904 (A) 2015 SCR 1100 rel
  11. —enhancement of compensation—relevant sale deeds for consideration—the land owners did not tender any sale-deed executed in the vicinity at the relevant time. The sale deeds produced in evidence relate to the adjacent villages and most of the same were executed much after the issuance of notification under section of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Zain-ul-Hasnain Rizvi v. Azad Govt. & 3 others 2019 SCR 904 (B)
  12. —enhancement of compensation—sale deeds/evidence relied upon—mere tendering of sale deeds not sufficient–determining factors of acquired land subject matter in case and the  sale deeds relied upon should same—the land owners failed to substantiate that the location, nature and market value of the land sold through the sale-deeds, tendered in evidence, and the acquired land are the same, therefore, in view of the principle of law enunciated by this Court in a plethora of judgments, i.e. mere tendering of sale-deeds in evidence is not sufficient until and unless the landowners substantiate that the location, nature or potential value of the land sold through sale-deed exhibited and the acquired land are the same; these sale-deeds are no helpful to the case of the landowners.  Zain-ul-Hasnain Rizvi v. Azad Govt. & 3 others 2019 SCR 904 (C) 2017 SCR 929 rel
  13. — Determination of the market value— small pieces of land— relevant for determination of market value —Held: — AJ&K is mostly hilly area and the people are holding very small pieces of land and most of them are not willing to sell the same, therefore, the sale-deeds pertaining to the small pieces of land are also relevant for determination of the market value of the land and compensation. Azad Govt. & others v. Saghir Ahmed & others 2022 SCR 1414 (A) 1996 SCR 136, 2015 SCR 1190& 2019 SCR 904 rel.
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