Additional compensation is justified when diminution in land value was not assessed.

Power Grid Corporation appealed against orders of a learned Single Judge dated 19 April 2023 in two writ petitions concerning compensation for land crossed by high-tension transmission lines.

The respondents argued that the appeals were covered by the Division Bench’s decision in W.A. No. 601 of 2026.

The appellants contended that the Deputy Commissioner had considered and compensated for diminution in land value.

The Division Bench noted that the Trial Court and learned Single Judge had found that the Deputy Commissioner’s compensation related to crop and tree losses and damage caused during installation, not diminution in land value

Whether the Deputy Commissioner had assessed or quantified diminution in the value of land caused by the high-tension transmission line

Whether the Trial Court’s grant of additional compensation for diminution in land value, as upheld by the learned Single Judge, warranted interference in appeal

The Court applied the principle in its decision in W.A. No. 601 of 2026 (28 August 2026), which it found applicable to the same question concerning diminution in land value.

The judgment identifies no separate statutory provision or further legal test governing quantification of that diminution.

The Court rejected the appellants’ submission that the Deputy Commissioner had already compensated for diminution in land value.

It relied on the Trial Court’s detailed finding, and the learned Single Judge’s consideration of the same contention, that the compensation awarded by the Deputy Commissioner covered crop and standing-tree losses and damage caused while laying the lines—not the reduction in land value attributable to the transmission line.

Applying the reasoning in W.A. No. 601 of 2026, the Court concluded that the Deputy Commissioner had not assessed or quantified that diminution and found no basis to interfere with the Single Judge’s order.

Both writ appeals were dismissed.