In Brief
A large batch of civil appeals challenged the High Court's assessment of compensation for agricultural lands acquired for an industrial model township near Manesar, Gurgaon. The High Court had fixed market value at Rs.43,61,400 per acre based on comparable transactions from neighboring villages acquired a year earlier. The Supreme Court held that while pre-acquisition comparable sales were properly relied upon, the lands merited an 8% enhancement to account for one year's appreciation in rural areas, yielding Rs.47,10,500 per acre. The Court adopted the principle that rural land appreciates at 5-7.5% annually (half the urban rate of 10-15%), and found the 8% increase warranted despite location away from highways.
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