Bharathiar University Landowners Keep ₹2,600-Per-Cent Compensation As Madras HC Rejects State’s Interior-Land Comparison

The State acquired 29.52 acres in Block XII, Somayampalayam Village, for establishing Bharathiar University.

The Section 4(1) notification was issued on 2 June 1982.

The Land Acquisition Officer assessed compensation using a sale of interior dry land, fixing rates of ₹5,172.40 per acre for dry land and ₹7,156 per acre for garden land.

On a Section 18 reference, the Reference Court rejected that exemplar and fixed compensation at ₹2,600 per cent, with statutory benefits.

The Officer appealed under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, challenging the enhanced valuation.

Under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, compensation on a Section 18 reference must reflect the market value of the acquired land, assessed using relevant comparable sale transactions and the land’s location, access and potential.

A sale of land that differs materially in location or development potential may be rejected as an exemplar.

A sale of a house plot may inform valuation of acquired land, but must be considered with appropriate deductions.

A post-notification sale may support evidence of a trend in local prices, though it is not itself the pre-notification transaction establishing market value.

The appeal lies under Section 54; the Court also noted a coordinate-bench decision confirming the same rate for lands in the jointly tried reference.

The selected exemplar was described in the Officer’s own sales statistics as interior land, with no immediate prospect of development, and was therefore not comparable to the acquired lands, which had road access and greater potential for development.

The Court accepted the pre-notification sale of a house plot at ₹3,000 per cent as relevant evidence, while accounting for its plotted nature through deductions.

It treated a later sale at about ₹10,000 per cent as corroborative of rising local prices, rather than as the basis for the valuation.

In light of the lands’ potential and the evidence, the rate of ₹2,600 per cent was reasonable; the separate award for wells and other items had not been challenged.

It dismissed the appeal and confirmed compensation at ₹2,600 per cent, together with the applicable statutory benefits and interest.

The Land Acquisition Officer was directed to deposit the enhanced compensation, less any amount already paid or deposited, with proportionate accrued interest within two months.

No order as to costs; the connected miscellaneous petition was closed.