NEW DELHI, Feb 23: The Supreme Court on Monday clarified that land acquisition cases concluded before 2018 under the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Act cannot be reopened to grant compensation with interest. The observation came from a special bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan during the hearing of a review plea filed by the NHAI against its 2019 judgment.
In the 2019 verdict, the top court had held that farmers whose land was acquired under the NHAI Act were entitled to compensation along with interest, applying the decision retrospectively. NHAI challenged this, citing a potential financial burden of around Rs 32,000 crore and seeking prospective application of the judgment only.
The bench noted that cases pending as of 2008 could still be considered for parity and solatium, but pre-2018 matters that have already attained finality are not eligible for reopening to claim interest. “Pre-2018 matters cannot be reopened. Those matters pending in 2008 continue. Claims filed later may get solatium but not interest,” Chief Justice Surya Kant observed.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing NHAI, argued that the retrospective application imposed an undue financial strain on the authority. The bench asked parties to file written submissions, scheduling the review plea for further hearing in two weeks.
The 2019 verdict had declared Section 3J of the NHAI Act unconstitutional for denying solatium and interest, emphasizing that equal treatment under Article 14 of the Constitution must be upheld. The court had stressed that reopening concluded cases would nullify the relief intended by the Tarsem Singh judgment, which sought to rectify disparities created by Section 3J.
The Supreme Court also clarified that the 2019 ruling only covers land acquired between 1997 and 2015 and does not direct any action on cases that had already reached final settlement.