Government's Authority: Land Acquisition without Compensation, as Ruled by Supreme Court

Category: Business

The Supreme Court determined that the condition imposed by the Jagobaji Gawanda Government, requiring that landowners give away part of their land free to public utility purposes as payment for permission to modify its use, cannot be considered illegal. The Supreme Court made this observation while overturning a Bombay High Court judgment, noting in Narayanrao Public Trust Vs State of Maharashtra & Others that clauses that require landowners to give part of their land away for free for public utility use are legal; "we therefore find that the High Court made a grave error in permitting these writ-petitions," stated the top Court while citing past rulings as proof. We accordingly grant these appeals, and quash and set-aside the common judgment and order of the High Court dated 4 July 2019 with which they disagreed. A bench consisting of Justices BR Gavai, SVN Bhatti and Y.S. Naidu issued their order of September 22 to state that plot holders' writ would also be dismissed.