NIMZ Project Land Acquisition: Telangana High Court Rules Assignees Of Govt Land Are Entitled To Compensation At Par With Private Land Holders

The order was passed by Justice K. Sarath in a batch of writ petitions filed by the petitioners, who belong to the marginalised section of society and had their assigned lands acquired by the government in 2015 for the NIMZ project.

In 2015, the government announced the establishment of NIMZ in Zaheerabad and issued G.O.Ms.No.123, outlining the process for land procurement. The petitioners, being assigned landholders, expressed their willingness to part with their lands and submitted the necessary forms as per the government order. Subsequently, they received show-cause notices for the resumption of their lands, to which they did not respond.

In 2016, the government resumed the petitioners' lands and handed them over to the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSIIC), the nodal agency for the NIMZ project. The revenue records were also mutated to reflect the change in ownership. During this process, the petitioners received ex-gratia payments of Rs.4,00,000/- per acre for cultivated land and Rs.3,25,000/- per acre for fallow land. However, this was significantly lower than the compensation of Rs.5,65,000/- per acre given to private patta landowners.

In 2017, the government issued G.O.Ms.No.53, exempting NIMZ from certain provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (the Act, 2013). This exemption, the petitioners argued, was unjust and discriminatory, as it denied them the fair compensation and rehabilitation benefits they were entitled to under the Act.

In 2018 and 2023, the petitioners filed writ petitions in the High Court, challenging the acquisition process and demanding compensation on par with private landowners. They argued that the acquisition was carried out without following the due process under the Act, 2013, and that the differential compensation was discriminatory. The petitioners also expressed their willingness to return the ex-gratia payment they had received.

The government and TSIIC countered these arguments, stating that due process was followed, including the issuance of show-cause notices and payment of ex-gratia. They emphasized that the petitioners willingly submitted the required forms and received the payments, thereby implying their consent. They also relied on the exemption granted to NIMZ under G.O.Ms.No.53 and argued that the petitioners' claims were time-barred.

The High Court, however, ruled in favour of the petitioners. It held that while the acquisition process was completed before relevant interim orders were passed in a similar case, the petitioners were still entitled to compensation at the same rate as private landowners, as established in the Mekala Pandu case and affirmed in the Special Collector's case. The court found the differential compensation to be discriminatory and ordered the government and TSIIC to pay the differential amount with accrued interest, without setting aside the entire acquisitionl. proceedings.

“As per settled law, in Mekala Pandu's case (cited 1 supra) and also the Division Bench Judgment of this Court in Special Collector's case (cited 20 supra), the petitioners are entitled to receive ex-gratia on par with the private patta holders in their respective villages and 31482 of 2023 @ Rs.5,65,000/- per acre and the respondents have to pay the said differential amount to the petitioners,” Court ordered.

Case no: WP. No. 25832 of 2018 and batch

Case title: M. Shankar and others. Vs.State of Telangana

Citation: 2024 Livelaw (TS) 106

Counsel for petitioner: Ch. Ravi Kumar.

Counsel for respondents: S. Rahul Reddy, Spl. Government Pleader for Additional Advocate General, L. Prabhakar Reddy, Standing Counsel for TSIIC