In Brief
The Government of Andhra Pradesh acquired land for the Somashila Project submergence in 1994. The Land Acquisition Officer awarded no compensation for 479 pomegranate trees on the land. The Reference Court awarded Rs. 4,000 per tree. The High Court reduced this to Rs. 2,000 per tree, relying on an earlier 1977 case involving the same project. The Supreme Court held that compensation must reflect the efflux of time and increased costs between the two acquisitions. The Court partly allowed the appeal, awarding Rs. 3,000 per pomegranate tree, recognizing that planting, raising, and yield potential of such trees had increased over the seventeen-year period."
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