Land Acquisition For Ring Road Not Notified As National Highway But Part Of NH Project Must Be Under NHAI Act: Jammu & Kashmir High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has recently ordered that all land required for the construction of the Srinagar Ring Road must be acquired in accordance with the National Highways Act, 1956. The court also ruled that additional compensation of 20% must be paid to those whose land has been acquired for the project.

The court observed that the Srinagar Ring Road Project is a national highway project and needs to be treated as part of existing National Highway 1A. It is not necessary to declare it a national highway under Section 2 of the NH Act, 1956 until it is completed, however, the Central Government is obliged in law, in terms of Section 3A, to initiate the process of acquisition under the NH Act, 1956, it held.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjeev Kumar and Puneet Gupta was hearing pleas of landowners of twenty villages whose land has come under acquisition for the construction of a semi-ring road being constructed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) from Pampore to Sonawari.

The petitioners had sought to declare the State Land Acquisition Act, 1990 as amended from time to time, as ultra vires the Constitution of India. They had sought directions to pay them compensation in lieu of their land acquired by the NHAI in terms of communication dated 4 October 2017.

Dealing with the matter, the bench noted that most of the villagers affected by land acquisition have already received compensation, possession of acquired land has been taken and a major portion of it has been utilized for the construction of the ring road.

“Since acquisition in these cases have been completed and the final awards passed under the State Land Acquisition Act, 1990, which, as we have held, was not in consonance with law, as such, it would be difficult rather inadvisable, at this stage, to set the clock back,” the court said.

Observing that the Srinagar Ring Road Project as a whole is a national highway project and, therefore, needs to be treated as part of existing National Highway 1A the court said,

"it is not necessary to declare it a national highway under Section 2 of the NH Act, 1956 atleast till it is completed. Necessarily and without any doubt, Srinagar Ring Road is atleast proposed to be a part of national highway NH 1A. Notwithstanding that a declaration in terms of Section 2 is yet to be made, the Central Government is obliged in law, in terms of Section 3A, to initiate the process of acquisition under the NH Act, 1956."

The Srinagar Ring Road project, the court said, is a very prestigious project envisioned by the Government of India in larger public interest.

“We could have directed the authorities to at least re-determine the compensation payable to the petitioners and other land losers by following the provisions of the National Highways Act, 1956 i.e. Section 3A to 3J and pay the additional compensation, if any, to the land losers but we are sure that the determination of compensation under National Highways Act, in the absence of applicability of RFCTLARR Act, 2013, may not be much beneficial to the petitioners,” the bench said.

In view of the same, the court modified the relief prayed for and directed the authorities to enhance the compensation payable to the petitioners by 20%.

The Court asked the concerned Collectors to issue the amended awards and disburse the balance compensation, if any, payable to the land losers (interested persons) within a period of two months.

Case Title: Land Owners of Village Suthsoo and others Vs State of J&K

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (JKL) 107

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