Sri Gopi Saha 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)/1325/2026

Sri Gopi Saha aged about 56 years, Son of Lt. Akhil Ch.
Saha, resident of Vill :- Monakocha, P.O.:- Bijni, Dist:-
Bongaigaon, Assam, Pin:- 783390.
……………… Petitioner

- 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], 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:-

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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 : Ms. R. Bora, Central Government
Counsel & 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. N. Goswami, Junior Government
Advocate

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

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

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JUDGMENT

Heard Mr. S.C. Das, learned counsel for the petitioner; Ms. R. Bora, learned
Central Government Counsel & 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. N. Goswami, learned Junior Government Advocate, Assam for the
respondent nos. 3 & 7.

2. 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
petitioner’s plot of land came to be acquired under the provisions of the National
Highways Act, 1956.

3. The petitioner 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 a 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

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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.

4. 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
was found to have attained finality, with no appeal preferred against it.

5. Finding that the petitioners were also similarly situated, 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.

6. 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

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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.

7. It is the case of the petitioner that after the Order dated 23.05.2017, the
members of the Committee including himself preferred applications seeking
compliance of the directions. 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 petitioner has not been disbursed the additional amount though the
respondent authorities had quantified the additional amount payable to the
petitioner at Rs. 1,57,612/-.

8. It is further brought to the notice of this Court that in another writ
petition, W.P.[C] no. 3496/2025, preferred by similarly situated writ petitioners,
a direction was made by the Court to disburse the additional amount to the
similarly situated beneficiary landowners, who were not disbursed the additional
amounts earlier, by an Order dated 23.03.2026, on or before 22.05.2026. An

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interlocutory application, I.A.[Civil] no. 1787/2026 was preferred by the Union
of India and NHAI in W.P.[C] no. 3496/2025 seeking extension of the time
period on the premise that a Standard Operating Procedure [SOP] was under
preparation. By an Order dated 13.07.2026, the interlocutory application, I.A.
[Civil] no. 1757/2026 was disposed of by extending the time period to disburse
the benefit of solatium @ 30% and interest @ 12% along with interest accrued
thereon, to those petitioners on or before 13.09.2026.

9. From the list of beneficiaries, annexed to the additional affidavit filed by
the petitioner, which the petitioner has obtained under the Right to Information
Act from the Office of the District Commissioner, Bongaigaon, the petitioner’s
name has figured at Serial no. 60 and for acquisition of an area of land,
belonging to the petitioner, covered by Dag no. 363 and Patta no. 176, at Village
Goraimari, an amount of Rs. 1,57,612/- had been assessed as the compensation
payable to the petitioner.

10. 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.

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11. In view of the admitted position that the petitioner is entitled to receive
the afore-mentioned amount, this writ petition is disposed of with a direction to
the respondent authorities in the NHAI to release the amount of compensation
the petitioner is 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 petitioner immediately thereafter. The amount to be calculated by the
respondent authorities towards Solatium @ 30% and additional interest @ 12%
for acquisition of the plot of land for the 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, which is payable, up-to the date of payment. There shall,
however, be no order as to cost.

JUDGE
Comparing Assistant