CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has dismissed a 43-year-old appeal filed by the land acquisition officer, Sambalpur, and upheld a 1982 order of the court of the sub-judge, Bargarh, that had enhanced compensation for land acquired for the establishment of a cooperative training institute.
The single-judge bench of Justice BP Routray, while pronouncing the order on November 13, confirmed that there was no merit to interfere with the impugned award and dismissed the state’s challenge to the enhanced compensation granted in favour of claimant Jailal Dash.
In the appeal filed in 1982, the state contended that the sub-judge’s valuation was without any basis and argued that when the sale statistics relied on by the authorities had not been disputed, the court’s enhancement from Rs 8,000 to Rs 50,000 per acre was illegal and arbitrary.
Rejecting the state’s arguments, Justice Routray held that the referral court had correctly appreciated the evidence. He noted that the acquired land lay adjacent to a village road and enjoyed considerable development potential. It further observed that no infirmity is seen in the approach of the learned referral court to grant the enhanced compensation with statutory interest at the rate of 6% per annum.”
The dispute stemmed from the acquisition of Dash’s land measuring 0.49 decimals of Berna kissam in Bargarh, acquired under a declaration dated April 26, 1978, and published in the Odisha Gazette on May 16, 1978. The land acquisition officer had originally assessed compensation at Rs 4,508, which included additional compensation and statutory interest. Dash received the amount under protest and sought a reference under section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, demanding compensation at a rate of at least Rs 2,000 per decimal.