Courts may dismiss land acquisition appeals below ₹5 lakh for smallness under State litigation policy.

The appellant-State authority filed a first appeal against an award of compensation passed by the Reference Court under the land-acquisition proceedings.

The compensation amount involved in the appeal was below ₹5,00,000/-.

On behalf of the original claimants, it was submitted that, under the State Government’s litigation policy and Government Resolution dated 25 October 2016, appeals involving claims below ₹5,00,000/- were required to be withdrawn before the Lok Adalat and should not remain pending indefinitely.

The State’s learned AGP did not dispute the existence or applicability of the Government Resolution.

Whether the first appeal involving compensation of less than ₹5,00,000/- should be entertained on merits in view of the State Government’s litigation policy and Government Resolution dated 25 October 2016.

Whether dismissal of the appeal on account of the smallness of the amount would operate as a decision on the legal or compensation issues arising from the relevant land-acquisition notification.

The Court applied the State Government’s litigation policy embodied in the Revenue Department’s Government Resolution dated 25 October 2016, under which claims up to ₹5,00,000/- were treated as petty claims and matters under the Land Acquisition Act involving less than that amount were to be withdrawn before the Lok Adalat.

The Court further applied the principle that an appeal covered by such a policy should not remain pending indefinitely merely awaiting a future Lok Adalat and may be disposed of during regular hearing.

The Court found that the compensation awarded by the Reference Court was below the ₹5,00,000/- threshold prescribed by the Government Resolution.

Since the State’s policy required such low-value land-acquisition matters to be withdrawn before the Lok Adalat, and the appeal had remained pending despite several Lok Adalats having been held, the Court held that it was unnecessary to keep the matter pending for a future Lok Adalat.

Considering the smallness of the amount and the applicable State litigation policy, the Court declined to entertain the appeal on merits and dismissed it on that limited ground.

It expressly clarified that the dismissal did not determine any legal issue or the correctness of the compensation and would not constitute a precedent in other matters arising from the same notification.

The connected Civil Application was consequently disposed of.

The Registry was directed to return the record and proceedings to the concerned Court.

The Reference Court was directed to disburse the deposited compensation, after deducting court fees, to the claimants upon due verification and identification, together with interest and after verifying their entitlement to receive the compensation.