In Brief
The appellant's land containing 45 pomegranate trees was acquired in 1990 for a water project. The Land Acquisition Officer awarded Rs.42.17 per tree, which was enhanced to Rs.65/- per tree by the High Court. The Supreme Court held that the 1992 government notification used by the courts did not exist on the acquisition date and should not have been applied. Instead, the correct rate was Rs.75/- per tree per the 1989 notification. While the multiplier of 9 (for three-year-old trees) was correctly applied, compensation of Rs.3,000/- awarded in a similar 1999 case could not be directly applied here due to the seven-year difference in award dates. The Court partly allowed the appeal, awarding Rs.2,000/- per tree as appropriate compensation for the temporal context of this case.
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