Landlosers are entitled to compensation on a par with that received by other landlosers from nearby areas if both sets of acquired plots are located in similarly well-developed areas, the Supreme Court has held.

The bench of Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K.V. Viswanathan passed the ruling while increasing the compensation to ₹1.18 crore an acre for certain landlosers in Dharuhera
and surrounding areas in Haryana. Punjab and Haryana High Court had earlier
fixed the compensation at ₹55.7 lakh per acre.

In their appeal before the apex court, the landlosers had said the high court had fixed a meagre amount despite the claimants having placed on record sale deeds relating to plots acquired in adjoining Malpura, Kapriwas and Sidhrawali.

For landlosers in these three places, the high court had increased the initial compensation of ₹67,12,050 an acre to ₹1,21,33,320 an acre.

The appellants pleaded for compensation on a par, at least, with the landlosers of Malpura, Kapriwas and Sidhrawali.

“Not only does the map indicate the proximity of the lands, the Reference Court has rightly recorded that the villages were adjoining and the acquisition was all part of development of sectors in Dharuhera,” the judgment, authored by Justice Viswanathan, said.

The apex court noted that the land acquired from the appellants was surrounded by big companies like Honda, Sehgal Papers, Cool Beverages, Lumax Industries Ltd and K.J. Auto Parts as well as real estate developers like M2K and Dwarkadhish. The appellants, therefore, deserved enhanced compensation, it said.