Compensation cannot be denied for acquisition: Supreme Court

A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court today ruled that just compensation cannot be denied by the government even if it has acquired forest land from the possession of bonafide occupants.

The apex court said any such compensation need not necessarily be the market value but at the same time cannot be illusory.

"It does not require payment of market value or indemnification to the owner of the property expropriated.

"Payment of market value in lieu of acquired property is not a condition precedent for acquisition. It must be clearly understood that the acquisition and payment of amount are part of the same scheme and they cannot be separated. It is true that the adequacy of compensation cannot be questioned in a court of law but at the same time the compensation cannot be illusory," the apex court said.

The apex court passed the ruling while dealing with a petition challenging the acquisition of large tracts of forest spanning in and around 1600 acres in Uttarkhand by the state government.

"The present case is a case of payment of 'no compensation’ at all. In the case at hand, the forest land, which was vested on the state by operation of law, cannot be said to be non-productive or unproductive by any stretch of imagination," the bench comprising Chief Justice SH Kapadia and Justices Mukundakam Sharma, KS Radhakrishnan, Swatanter Kumar and AR Dave said.