[Cites 3, Cited by 0]
Punjab-Haryana High Court
Gurnam Singh vs State Of Haryana And Ors on 15 January, 2026
322
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
RFA No. 115 of 2024 (O&M)
Date of Decision: 15.01.2026
Gurnam Singh
...Appellant
Versus
State of Haryana and others
...Respondents
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HARKESH MANUJA
Present: Mr. Deepak Sharma,, Advocate
for the appellant.
Mr. Abhinash Jain, Deputy
eputy Advocate General
General, Haryana
for respondent Nos. 1 to 3.
Mr. Pritam Singh Saini, Advocate
for respondent No. 4-HSIIDC.
HSIIDC.
****
HARKESH MANUJA, J. (ORAL)
CM No. 313-CI
313 of 2024
Prayer in the present application is for condonation of
delay of 2434 days in filing the appeal.
Notice of the application was issued on 30.07.2024.
No reply has been filed; however, llearned counsel(s) for
the respondent(s) vehemently oppose(ss) the prayer made in the
application.
I have heard learned counsel for the parties and gone
through the contents of the application.
Concededly, the other similarly situated landowners
pertaining to the same acquisition proceedings have already been
held entitled for the enhanced amount of compensation pertaining to
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the acquired land falling in the same revenue estate, i.e. Village
Alipur, Tehsil and District Panchkula, to the tune of Rs. 54,50,000/-
per acre, in view of judgment/order dated 24.11.2021 passed by this
Court in a bunch of appeal, lead case of which was RFA No. 4676 of
2017, titled "Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation
(now Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development
Corporation Limited) Versus Dhani Ram and others".
Based thereupon and applying the principle of parity,
besides grant of just and fair compensation, the landowner/applicant
being similarly situated is held entitled for grant of similar amount of
compensation, however, without any payment of interest for the
period of delay in filing the present appeal. In this regard, reliance can
be placed upon the decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in case of
"Ningappa Thotappa Angadi (Dead) through LRs Vs. Special
Land Acquisition Officer and Another" reported as "2020 (19)
SCC 599" and the latest exposition of law in Mohar Singh (Dead)
Through Lrs. & Ors. Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh Collector & Ors.
reported as "2023 INSC 1019" whereby, delay of 12 years and 353
days was condoned to accord parity between similarly placed
landowners albeit no interest was awarded for delayed period. The
relevant portion thereof is extracted hereunder:-
"12. Having heard learned Senior Counsel for the parties
and on perusal of the material placed on record, we
are satisfied that the appellants are entitled to seek
parity with their co-villagers in the grant of
compensation for their acquired land. This Court has
consistently held in a catena of decisions that the
inordinate delay in filing appeal in compensatory
matters, per se, may not be fatal as the rights and
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equities between the parties can be well balanced by
denying the statutory benefits, such as interest for the
delayed period. We are thus of the considered opinion
that the delay in filing the first appeal(s) could be
condoned subject to the condition that the appellants
would not be entitled to enure undue benefit for the
delayed period. We grant such indulgence in the
appellant's favour also for the reason that a batch of
first appeals at the instance of other land owners was
still pending consideration before the High Court. All
that the High Court ought to have emphatically denied
to the late-comers was the benefit of interest including
on the solatium, under Section 34 of the Act for the
period from the date of passing of the award by the
Reference Court till the filing of the first appeals."
In view of the discussion made hereinabove as well as
contents of the application, the same is allowed and delay in filing, as
mentioned above, is hereby condoned. However, the applicant shall
not be entitled for interest for the period of delay in filing the appeal.
MAIN APPEAL
At the outset, learned counsel for the appellant submits
that the present appeal is squarely covered by the judgment dated
24.11.2021 passed by this Court in a bunch of appeals, lead case of
which was RFA No. 4676 of 2017, titled "Haryana State Industrial
Development Corporation (now Haryana State Industrial and
Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited) Versus Dhani
Ram and others", whereby the market value of the land was fixed at
the rate of Rs. 54,50,000/- per acre acquired vide notification dated
15.12.2008 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
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[2] On the other hand, learned State Counsel as well as
learned counsel for respondent-HSIIDC are not in a position to
controvert the above factual position.
[3] After going through the judgment passed in Dhani
Ram's case (supra) as well as the present case, this Court agrees
with the assertion of the learned counsel for the appellant.
[4] Consequently, the present appeal is disposed off in the
same terms as Dhani Ram's case (supra).
[5] It is further added that the appellant shall not be entitled
to interest for the period of delay in filing the appeal.
[6] Pending miscellaneous application(s), if any, shall
stand(s) disposed off.
January 15, 2026 ( HARKESH MANUJA )
'dk kamra' JUDGE
Whether Speaking / Reasoned : Yes No
Whether Reportable : Yes No
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