Land acquired by UP Awas Evam Vikas Parishad must be compensated under 2013 land acquisition law, Allahabad HC rules

The acquisition was initiated by the U.P. Awas Evam Vikas Parishad under Section 28 of the U.P. Avas Evam Vikas Parishad Adhiniyam, 1965 in 2010.

The declaration under Section 32 of the 1965 Act was issued in 2017, after the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (“2013 Act”) came into force on 1 January 2014.

The award was made on 29 January 2020 under the 1965 Act read with the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

The petitioner challenged the award and sought determination of compensation under the 2013 Act.

An inadvertent reference to Annexure No. 6 instead of Annexure No. 5 in the relief clause was corrected by the Court.

The Parishad did not dispute that the Supreme Court’s decisions in Aasha Verma v. Commissioner, Awas Evam Vikas Parishad, Uttar Pradesh and U.P. Awas Evam Vikas Parishad v. Chandra Shekhar directly governed the matter.

Whether compensation for an acquisition initiated under the U.P. Avas Evam Vikas Parishad Adhiniyam, 1965, where the declaration and award were made after 1 January 2014, was required to be determined under the 2013 Act rather than the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

Whether the award dated 29 January 2020, insofar as it determined compensation under the 1965 Act read with the 1894 Act, was liable to be quashed and replaced by a fresh award under the 2013 Act.

Section 24(1) of the 2013 Act requires pending acquisition proceedings, in which no award had been made under Section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 before commencement of the 2013 Act, to be governed by the 2013 Act for determination of compensation.

Section 55 of the U.P. Avas Evam Vikas Parishad Adhiniyam, 1965, read with its Schedule, incorporates the relevant provisions of the 1894 Act where the 1965 Act does not provide an independent compensation mechanism.

In Aasha Verma v. Commissioner, Awas Evam Vikas Parishad, Uttar Pradesh, Civil Appeal Nos. 990–991 of 2025, decided on 24 January 2025, the Supreme Court held that the 2013 Act applies to compensation payable in acquisitions under the 1965 Act where the acquisition remained pending on 1 January 2014.

The Court also relied on U.P. Awas Evam Vikas Parishad v. Chandra Shekhar, Civil Appeal No. 3855 of 2024, decided on 5 March 2024.

The acquisition commenced in 2010, but the Section 32 declaration was issued only in 2017 and the award was made on 29 January 2020, both after the 2013 Act had come into force.

Since no award had been made before 1 January 2014, the acquisition remained pending on the commencement date of the 2013 Act.

The Court further noted that possession had not been taken before the award or before 1 January 2014, and that the award itself contemplated possession only after the award was made.

Applying Section 24(1) and the binding ratio in Aasha Verma, the Court held that the compensation could not lawfully be calculated under the 1894 Act or the corresponding provisions applied through the 1965 Act.

The existing award was therefore defective to the extent that it determined compensation under the old statutory regime.

The award dated 29 January 2020 was quashed insofar as it calculated compensation under the U.P. Avas Evam Vikas Parishad Adhiniyam, 1965 read with the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

The competent Special Land Acquisition Officer was directed to recalculate compensation under the 2013 Act, keeping in view the Supreme Court’s decision in Aasha Verma, and to make and pay a fresh award, subject to the parties’ statutory right to seek enhancement or challenge the fresh award.