JUDGMENT :

“Property is a human right because it is a human’s right.”

Walter Barnes in “Third World Ways in Cambridge

USA”, The Wall Street Journal, December 1983

The writ petitioners in these cases are persons whose land and buildings had been acquired for the purpose of widening the National Highway under the provisions of the National Highways Act. They are aggrieved since part of their properties and buildings are acquired, leaving out small strips of land or buildings that are unusable. In some cases, awards have been passed and in some, awards are yet to be passed. The common question that arises for consideration in all these writ petitions is whether Section 94 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 ('the 2013 Act' for short) will apply to acquisitions under the National Highways Act.

History

2. The Land Acquisition Act of 1894 ('the 1894 Act' for short) is a pre-constitutional law that provided for the acquisition of land for public purposes and for companies. The Act provides for payment of compensation to persons who lost their lands due to compulsory acquisition. The exercise of the power of eminent do