Land compensation enhanced based on comparable cases with annual deductions for earlier notifications.

The appellants' lands in Village Saykha, Taluka Vagra, District Bharuch, were acquired for the construction of the Sadthala Distributory Canal.

Notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act was published on 02.05.1992.

The Special Land Acquisition Officer awarded compensation at ₹2.50 per sq. mtr. under Section 11.

On reference under Section 18, the Reference Court (Joint District Judge, Bharuch) enhanced the total compensation to ₹14 per sq. mtr. (consisting of ₹2.50 awarded by the Officer and ₹11.50 additional compensation).

The claimants appealed to the High Court seeking further enhancement to ₹25 per sq. mtr.

1. Whether the claimants are entitled to enhanced compensation based on parity with previous judgments involving nearby lands.

2. Whether a 40% deduction is applicable to the base compensation rate when the Section 4 notification in the current case predates the notification in the comparable precedent by four years.

The court applied the principle of parity and "settled principles of law" regarding time-based adjustments for land valuation under the Land Acquisition Act.

It relied on the precedent set by a Coordinate Bench of the Gujarat High Court in First Appeal No. 2223 of 2009 and allied matters, which established a compensation rate of ₹46.80 per sq. mtr. for land in the same region, albeit under a later Section 4 notification dated 20.01.1996.

The court found that the issues were squarely covered by the judgment in First Appeal No. 2223 of 2009.

The Section 4 notification in the present case (02.05.1992) was issued four years prior to the notification in the precedent case (20.01.1996). Applying settled valuation principles, the court determined that a 40% deduction must be applied to the precedent’s rate to account for the four-year difference in market appreciation.

Consequently, the court calculated that a total compensation of ₹30 per sq. mtr. would be just and proper for the 1992 acquisition.

The court ordered the respondents to deposit the additional ₹16 per sq. mtr. with permissible statutory benefits within 12 weeks.

Crucially, the court held that the claimants are not entitled to interest for the delayed period of 2570 days as per the order passed during the condonation of delay. The amounts are to be disbursed via RTGS/NEFT after deducting deficit Court fees.