The Supreme Court has raised objections to the practice under the National Highways Act where compensation disputes for land acquired for highway projects are effectively decided by government officials.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Suryakant and Justices Jaymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana heard the matter, noting that fixing compensation in land acquisition is essentially a judicial function, for which adjudicatory forums exist.
The court observed that, unlike other land acquisition cases, national highway acquisitions place extensive authority with officials under the special law—an approach the bench said it could not accept. It also pointed out that lands along national highways are often high-value, and that farmers received interest on compensation only after the Supreme Court’s intervention in such matters.
Appearing for the Centre, Attorney General R. Venkataramani told the court that the government is seriously considering amending the National Highways Act so that compensation-related disputes are heard by bodies with judicial training.
Recording this submission, the bench said it did not wish to intervene immediately and adjourned the case.
