In Brief
The respondents owned cultivated land in Kerala's Pannu Valley that was wrongly vested under the 1971 Forest Act. After 27 years of litigation, the High Court in 1998 declared the land was not vested and ordered restoration. However, the State could not restore the land due to Adivasi occupation. When the respondents sought compensation, the State later notified the same land as ecologically fragile under the 2003 Act (which bars compensation). The Supreme Court held the respondents are entitled to compensation for their deprivation of possession and enjoyment from 1971-2003, despite the subsequent 2003 Act notification. The Court reduced the awarded compensation from full land value to 50% of the Tehsildar's assessment, balancing the respondents' established ownership rights against the State's later legal vesting rights.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.