Smt Kanduri Bala Ray And 11 Ors vs The Union Of India And 6 Ors

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GAHC010043322026

2026:GAU-AS:13604
THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT
(HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)
Case No. : WP(C)/3496/2025

1. Smt Kanduri Bala Ray, Wife of Lt. Harkeswar
Ray, resident of Vill:- Nowapara No. 1, P.O. :-
Nowapara, Dist.:- Bongaigaon, Pin-783392, Assam.
2. Smt. Shukra Wala Ray, W/O Lt. Moneswar Ray
R/O Vill- Nowapara no. 1 P.O.- Nowapara Dist-
Bongaigaon Pin-783392 Assam.
3. Durgeswar Ray, S/O Lt. Hareswar Ray R/O Vill-
Nowapara no. 1 P.O.- Nowapara no. 1, Dist-
Bongaigaon, Pin-783392, Assam
4 Suchoma Begum, C/O. Jafor Ali, R/O Vill-
Bhatipara P.O.- Nowapara Dist- Bongaigaon, Pin-
783392, Assam.
5. Jakir Hussain, S/O Lt. Hanif Ali R/O Vill-
Nagarjhar, P.O.- Dakshin Bijni Dist- Bongaigaon, Pin-
783390, Assam.
6. Ali Ahmed, S/O Lt. Bashiruddin Ahmed R/O Vill-
Nachankuri no. 1 Dist- Bongaigaon Pin-783390,
Assam.
7. Ramayan Chouhan, S/O Lt. Rambrish Chouhan,
R/O Vill- Balajan Tiniali, P.O.- Haltugaon Dist-
Kokrajhar Pin-783370, Assam.
8. Ashwani Chauhan @ Ashwini Chouhan, S/O Lt.

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Sudarshan Chauhan, R/O Vill- Monakocha P.O.- Bijni,
Dist- Bongaigaon, Pin-783390, Assam
9. Chotalal Chouhan, S/O Balla Chouhan, R/O Vill-
Monakocha, P.O.- Bijni, Dist- Bongaigaon Pin-
783390, Assam.
10. Mahen Chandra Ray @ Mahen Ray, S/O Lt.
Ganga Charan Ray, R/O Vill & P.O.- Nowapara No.1
Dist- Bongaigaon, Pin-783392, Assam.
11. Sabetri Bala Roy @ Sohebala Roy, W/O Lt.
Roben Roy, R/O Vill- Barbila, P.O.- Manikpur, Dist-
Bongaigaon Pin-783392, Assam.
12. Zakir Hussain, S/O Lt. Apsar Ali, R/O Vill-
Bhatipara, P.O.- Nowapara no. 1, Dist- Bongaigaon
Pin-783392, Assam.

……………… PetitionerS

- VERSUS -

1. The Union of India represented by Secretary to
the Government of India, Ministry of Road Transport
and Highways, Government of India, Transport
Bhawan, 1, Parliament Street, New Delhi-110001.
2. The State of Assam represented by the
Secretary to the Government of Assam, Revenue
[Settlement] Department, Dispur, Guwahati,
781006. Assam.
3. The District Commissioner, Bongaigaon, P.O. &
Dist. :- Bongaigaon, Pin:- 783380 Assam.
4. The National Highway Authority of India
[NHAI], [Ministry of Road Transport and Highway],

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HQ G-5 & 6, Sector-10, Dwarka, New Delhi-110075.
5. General Manager [Finance] National Highway
Authority of India HQ G-5 & 6, Sector-10, Dwarka,
New Delhi-110075.
6. Project Director, National Highway Authority of
India [NHAI], Bongaigaon, P.O. & District:-
Bongaigaon, Pin:- 783380, Assam.
7. The Circle Officer, Bijni Revenue Circle,
Bongaigaon, P.O.-Bijni, District:-Bongaigaon, Pin-
783390, Assam.
……………… Respondents .


BEFORE
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY


Advocates :

Advocate for the Petitioner : Mr. S.C. Das, Advocate
Advocate for the respondent nos.
1, 4, 5 & 6 : Mr. C. Baruah, Standing Counsel, NHAI

Advocate for the respondent no. 2 : Mr. A. Bhattacharyya, Standing Counsel,
Revenue & Disaster Management
Department

Advocate for the respondent nos. 3 & 7 : Mr. B.J. Talukdar, Senior Advocate and
Mr. P.K. Medhi, Junior Government
Advocate

Date of hearing : 14.09.2026
Date of pronouncement of judgment : 14.09.2026

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Whether the pronouncement is of the
Operative part of the judgment ? : No
Whether the full judgment has been
Pronounced ? : Yes


JUDGMENT

1. Heard Mr. S.C. Das, learned counsel for the petitioners; Mr. C. Baruah,
learned Standing Counsel, NHAI for the respondent nos. 1, 4, 5 & 6; Mr. A.
Bhattacharyya, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue & Disaster Management
Department, Government of Assam for the respondent no. 2; and Mr. B.J.
Talukdar, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Mr. P.K. Medhi, learned Junior
Government Advocate, Assam for the respondent nos. 3 & 7.

2. The writ petition has been filed by the petitioners herein, twelve in
number, seeking inter alia a direction to the respondent authorities, more
particularly, the respondent authorities in the National Highways Authority of
India [NHAI] to release the benefits in the forms of solatium @ 30% and
interest @ 12% under Section 23[2] and Section 23[1] respectively of the Land
Acquisition Act, 1894 [since repealed] to them as their lands have been acquired
under the provisions of the National Highways Act, 1956.

3. The Central Government had undertaken a Project for ‘Construction of 4-
lane of National Highway no. 31 under the East-West Corridor Project [‘the
Project’, for short] with the National Highway Authority of India [NHAI] as the
executing agency. In the process of land acquisition for the Project, the
petitioners’ plot of land came to be acquired under the provisions of the

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National Highways Act, 1956.

4. The petitioners and other similarly situated persons under the aegis of a
registered society, M/s Bijni Mohokuma Khotigrostha Pattadar Sartho Rokhya
Sommittee, Bijni [‘the Society’, for short] approached this Court by a writ
petition, W.P.[C] no. 511/2012 seeking inter alia a direction to the respondent
authorities to grant solatium @ 30% and additional compensation @ 12% under
Section 23[2] and Section 23[1][A] of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 [since
repealed]. The Society was formed by the aggrieved villagers belonging to
different revenue villages in the district of Bongaigaon, who claimed that they
were awarded lesser and inadequate amounts of compensation against
acquisition of their lands for the Project. The lands of the members of the
Society were acquired in the year 2005 and the compensation amounts were
paid in two phases. The Society approached the Court when its member were
made known by a Letter dated 24.08.2010 of the NHAI addressed to the
Competent Authority for Land Acquisition [CALA], appointed for the Project, that
solatium @ 30% and interest @ 12% would not be paid.

5. It is relevant to mention that in a writ petition, W.P.[C] no. 492/2014
[Rohiteswar Ray and others vs. the Union of India and others], a Division Bench
of this Court, in its Order dated 06.01.2017, held to the effect that for the
acquisition proceedings, which were pending as on 28.03.2008, solatium @
30% and additional compensation @ 12% under Section 32[2] and Section
23[1][A] respectively of the Land Acquisition Act must be added to the
acquisition compensation to be paid to the landowners, affected by expansion of
the National Highway in the Bongaigaon district. The Order dated 06.01.2017

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was found to have attained finality, with no appeal preferred against it.

6. Finding that the members of the petitioner Society were also similarly
situated like the petitioners in W.P.[C] no. 492/2014, the writ petition, W.P.[C]
no. 511/2012 was disposed of by an Order dated 23.05.2017 with a direction to
the respondent authorities including the NHAI to pay the members of the
Society being the landowners, solatium @ 30% and additional interest @ 12%
for acquisition of their plots of land for the purpose of widening of National
Highway no. 31, subject to filing individual applications by the landowners
before the Project Director, NHAI, Bongaingaon for doing the needful.

7. The operative parts of the Order dated 23.05.2017 read as under :-

[…..] this writ petition is disposed of with a direction that the respondent
authorities, including the National Highway Authority of India shall pay the
members of the petitioner society being the land owners, the solatium @30%
and the additional interest @12% for acquisition of their land for the purpose of
widening of the National Highway No. 31. As provided in the order dated
06.01.2017 of the Division Bench of this Court, the individual members of the
petitioner association would now file their respective applications before the
Project Director of the National Highway Authority of India, Bongaigaon for doing
the needful and upon such representation being submitted, the respondent
authorities shall give a due consideration to the same and make arrangement for
the payment of the solatium and additional interest within a period of three
months from the date of receipt of the individual applications.

8. It is the case of the petitioners that after the Order dated 23.05.2017,

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the members of the Committee including the petitioners themselves preferred
applications seeking compliance of the directions made in the said Order. The
respondent authorities in the NHAI and the Competent Authority, Land
Acquisition [CALA] prepared a list of beneficiaries and thereafter, disbursed the
additional amounts towards solatium and additional interest to some of the
beneficiaries in the list. However, without any reason, the petitioners have not
been disbursed the additional amounts though the respondent authorities had
quantified the additional amounts payable to the petitioners.

9. In the course of the present writ proceeding, the Court, on 23.03.2026,
recorded a submission of the learned counsel appearing for the respondent
NHAI authorities that the NHAI would extend the benefit of solatium @ 30%
and interest @ 12% along with interest accrued thereon on or before
22.05.2026 to the petitioners.

10. Thereafter, the respondent NHAI preferred an interlocutory application,
I.A.[Civil] no. 1757/2026 seeking extension of the time period to abide by the
Order dated 23.03.2026 on the premise that after an Order dated 25.03.2026
passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Review Petition [C] no. 2528/2025
[National Highways Authority of India vs. Tarsem Singh and others] in
Miscellaneous Application no. 1773/2021 in Civil Appeal no. 7064/2019 [Union
of India vs. Tarsem Singh], a Standard Operation Procedure [SOP] was under
preparation for implementation of the Order dated 25.03.2026.

11. It was submitted that after disposal of a review petition, Review Petition
[Civil] no. 2528/2025 in Miscellaneous Application no. 1773/2021 in Civil Appeal

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no. 7064/2019 [National Highways Authority of India vs. Tarsem Singh and
others] on 25.03.2026, the issue had been taken up by the NHAI with the
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways [MoRT&H], Government of India and a
Standard Operating Procedure [SOP] was being prepared. It was averred in the
application that only after issuance of the SOP, which was then under
preparation, it would be possible to abide by the Order dated 25.03.2026 and
citing it as the reason, the application seeking extension of time period was
filed.

12. By an Order dated 13.07.2026, the interlocutory application, I.A.[Civil]
no. 1757/2026 was disposed of. The time limit of about two months up to
22.05.2026 was recorded by this Court on the basis of the submission made on
behalf of the respondent authorities in the NHAI that benefits of solatium @
30% and interest @ 12% along with interest accrued thereon would be
extended to the petitioners. It was noticed that in the interlocutory application,
no fixed time-period for extension was sought for, whereas on 23.03.2026 a
time-period of two months was sought for. It was observed that after seeking a
time period of two months on 23.03.2026, an application seeking extension of
time period of indefinite nature, which would be at least till preparation of the
SOP, was not tenable. Then, it was submitted that though the interlocutory
application, I.A.[Civil] no. 1757/2026 was filed in May, 2026, the application got
listed for the first time on 13.07.2026 and, therefore, a period of two months
from 13.07.2026 would be reasonable and sufficient for the respondent
authorities in the NHAI to comply with the direction made in the Order dated
23.03.2026.

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13. Taking note of the above submission regarding extension of the time
period reasonable, the interlocutory application was disposed of with a direction
that the respondent authorities in the NHAI would extend the benefits of
solatium @ 30% and interest @ 12% along with interest accrued thereon within
a period of two months, that is, on or before 13.09.2026.

14. Therefore, a direction is already there to disburse the benefits of solatium
@ 30% and interest @ 12% along with interest accrued thereon to the
petitioners on or before 13.09.2026.

15. In the list of beneficiaries already prepared by the Competent Authority
for Land Acquisition [CALA] for the Project, annexed as Annexure-II to the writ
petition, which was obtained under the RTI Act, the names of the petitioners
have. In the said lists, the following compensation amounts were shown
assessed to be payable to the petitioners against their acquired lands :-

Petitioner Number Amount
1. Rs. 30,240/-
2. Rs. 20,570/-
3. Rs. 2,00,372/-
4. Rs. 1,15,952/-
5. Rs. 2,78,880/-
6. Rs. 2,80,560/-
7. Rs. 23,520/-
8. Rs. 4,24,675/-
9. Rs. 22,848/-
10. Rs. 49,445/-

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11. Rs. 1,45,051/-
12. Rs. 1,17,012/-


16. In the case of Civil Appeal no. 7064/2019, Union of India vs. Tarsem
Singh, [2019] 9 SCC 304 , the Hon’ble Supreme Court has held that the
provisions of the Land Acquisition Act relating to Solatium and interest
contained in Section 23[1A] and Section 23[2] and interest payable in terms of
Section 28 proviso would apply to acquisitions made under the National
Highways Act. Subsequently, Miscellaneous Application no. 1773/2021 and
Review Petition [Civil] no. 2528/2025 in Miscellaneous Application no.
1773/2021, preferred by the NHAI, after the Judgment in Civil Appeal no.
7064/2019 were dismissed on 04.02.2025 and 25.03.2026 respectively.

17. In view of the above admitted position; and with no challenge to the
Order dated 13.07.2026 [supra], the petitioners are found entitled to receive the
afore-mentioned amounts shown assessed already by the Competent Authority
for Land Acquisition [CALA] for the Project. Therefore, this writ petition is
disposed of with a direction to the respondent authorities in the NHAI to deposit
the amounts of compensation the petitioners are found entitled to receive
towards solatium @ 30% and interest @ 12%, to the Competent Authority for
Land Acquisition [CALA], along with interest accrued thereon, within a period of
six weeks from today, and on deposit of the amount, the CALA shall disburse
the amount of compensation to the petitioners immediately thereafter. The
amounts to be calculated by the respondent authorities towards Solatium @
30% and additional interest @ 12% for acquisition of the plot of land for the

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purpose of widening of the National Highway no. 31 shall be strictly in terms of
the direction made in the Order dated 23.05.2017, up-to the date of payment.
There shall, however, be no order as to cost.


JUDGE
Comparing Assistant