NHAI faces ₹29k-cr hit as SC upholds extra compensation for highway landowners
₹29,000-crore liability for unsettled cases.A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan reaffirmed that landowners whose land was acquired for highway projects between 1997 and 2015 are entitled to extra compensation, known as solatium, and interest, even for past acquisitions.The apex court maintained that financial implications of the judgment, estimated at around ₹29,000-crore by the NHAI—cannot be a ground to deny fair compensation to landowners.“The grant of solatium and interest cannot be made contingent upon the magnitude of the financial burden. The Constitutional guarantee of just compensation cannot be diluted on that basis.
Mere projection of financial liability does not constitute a valid ground for review,” the apex court said.At the same time, the court placed a key limitation. It clarified that cases seeking compensation which have already been fully settled before 28 March 2015 cannot be reopened.
This means only pending or unresolved cases will benefit from the ruling, while closed matters will remain undisturbed.The year 2015 acts as a cut-off because this is when the provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR Act) were extended to highway projects. Before this, land acquired under The National Highways Act, 1956 did not include benefits like solatium and interest, leading to lower compensation.
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