In Brief
The Supreme Court considered appeals challenging the compensation awarded for land acquired under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 for a cement project in Himachal Pradesh. The Reference Court and High Court had upheld a 60% deduction from the market value of a comparable sale deed without providing detailed reasoning based on positive and negative factors affecting land value. The Court held that such deductions must be explicitly justified by reference to relevant factors such as size, location, proximity, and topography. The Court remitted the matter to the High Court for fresh consideration, directing it to apply established principles for justifying deductions from market value in land acquisition compensation cases."
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