The Supreme Court ruled that similarly situated landowners must receive equal compensation in land acquisition cases. It held that a prior judicial decision awarding a higher multiplier for identical orange trees constituted a “special circumstance,” justifying the restoration of a 15x multiplier over a reduced 10x multiplier to prevent discriminatory treatment.
Facts Of The Case:
The case involved the appellants, landowners from village Khanapur in Akola district, whose land was acquired by the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation pursuant to a notification issued under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 in August 1995. Possession was taken in April 1996. Dissatisfied with the compensation, the landowners sought a reference to a civil court. In its 2011 award, the reference court granted enhanced compensation, applying a multiplier of 15 to calculate the value of 42 productive orange trees on the acquired land. The Corporation challenged this award in the Bombay High Court, which reduced the multiplier from 15 to 10, relying on previous Supreme Court judgments that suggested a standard multiplier of 8-10 for plantations. The landowners then appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing the High Court’s reduction was erroneous. They highlighted that in other reference cases concerning adjacent lands acquired under the same notification, the same reference court had consistently applied a multiplier of 15 based on expert evidence that orange trees can bear fruit for 15-20 years. Crucially, one such award had been upheld by the High Court in a separate appeal, a decision which the Corporation had accepted and not challenged further.
Procedural History:
The procedural history of this case began with the issuance of a Section 4 notification under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, in August 1995 for acquiring land in village Khanapur. Dissatisfied with the compensation awarded by the Land Acquisition Officer, the appellants sought a reference under Section 18 of the Act. This led to Land Acquisition Reference (LAR) No. 203 of 2002 before the competent civil court (Reference Court). In its award dated August 29, 2011, the Reference Court enhanced the compensation, applying a multiplier of 15 for the orange trees. The respondent Corporation challenged this award by filing First Appeal No. 143 of 2014 before the High Court of Judicature at Bombay (Nagpur Bench). The High Court, vide its judgment and order dated September 17, 2020, allowed the appeal in part and reduced the multiplier to 10. Aggrieved by this reduction, the landowners filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP (C)) No. 97 of 2021 before the Supreme Court. The SLP was granted leave, being converted into Civil Appeal No. … of 2025, which was ultimately allowed by the Supreme Court on August 18, 2025, restoring the Reference Court’s award.
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Court Observation:
In its ruling, the Supreme Court made several key observations. It noted that the High Court’s decision to reduce the multiplier was based on previous judgments which were not binding precedents but were rendered on their specific facts. The Court emphasized that the general trend of applying a standard multiplier of 10 is not an inflexible rule and can be deviated from when special circumstances exist. It found such a circumstance in the form of a previous judgment concerning adjacent land from the same acquisition, where a multiplier of 15 had been affirmed by the High Court and accepted by the Corporation. The Court firmly observed that the principle of equality must be upheld in compensation matters, and similarly situated landowners cannot be subjected to discriminatory treatment. It held that the existence of the prior decision itself constituted a valid special justification for applying the higher multiplier, thus restoring the Reference Court’s award.
Final Decision & Judgement:
The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and set aside the impugned judgment of the High Court to the extent it reduced the multiplier. It restored the award of the Reference Court, which had applied a multiplier of 15 for the 42 orange trees. Consequently, the appellants were awarded the balance compensation of ₹1,05,000/-. The Court directed the respondent Corporation to pay this sum within 8 weeks, along with interest at 6% per annum from the date of the High Court’s order (September 17, 2020) until the date of payment. A punitive interest rate of 9% per annum was stipulated to be applicable in case of default. All pending applications, if any, were disposed of.
Case Details:
Case Title: Saraswatabai Motiram Tayade & Ors. vs. Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation & Anr. Criminal/Civil Appeal No: [Arising out of SLP (C) No. 97 of 2021] Date of Judgement: August 18, 2025 Judges/Justice Name: Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Augustine George Masih
Download The Judgement Here