The court upheld the lower court's compensation assessment for property diminution and tree loss, emphasizing the need for just compensation based on proper valuation methods.

ORDER

(Dated: 20 th November, 2024) [CRP Nos.30/2019, 479/2018]

In C.R.P.No.30 of 2019, the revision petitioner, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (‘the Corporation’ for short), is aggrieved by the enhanced compensation ordered to be paid to the first respondent/ claimant, consequent upon the drawing of 400 KV electric lines across his property by the Corporation. In C.R.P.No.479 of 2018, the revision petitioner is the affected party.

2. The facts of the case are as follows; In order to facilitate the drawing of lines for the smooth transmission of power, a large number of trees were cut from the 1 st respondent's/affected party’s property. The drawing of high-tension lines rendered the land underneath and adjacent to the lines useless, resulting in diminution of the value of the property. In spite of the huge loss suffered, a meager amount was paid to the 1 st respondent as compensation. Hence, the original petition was filed, seeking enhanced compensation.

3. 1 st respondent/affected party claimed Rs.50 lakhs towards the diminution and the utility of the land and the value of the trees cut and removed from the property. A perusal of the impugned order shows that the court below has assessed the loss sustained due to the cutting of yielding trees by assessing the average number of yields per year and multiplying it with the value of one, after deducting the immature falling and expenses. For determining the compensation amount payable, the trial court, relying on the decision reported in KSEB v . Livisha, [(2007) 6 SCC 792] applied 8 as the multiplier. A similar method was adopted for calculating the loss sustained due to the cutting of yielding trees, and for some other trees, a certain amount was fixed as compensation.

4. Thus, the compensation fixed for different trees is shown in the table mentioned below:

5. In para. 10 of the decision reported in KSEB (Supra) it was held that;

10. The situs of the land, the distance between the high voltage electricity line laid thereover, the extent of the line thereon as also the fact as to whether the high voltage line passes over a small tract of land or through the middle of the land and other similar relevant factors in our opinion would be determinative. The value of the land would also be a relevant factor. The owner of the land furthermore, in a given situation may lose his substantive right to use the property for the purpose for which the same was meant to be used.

6. The Court below fixed the value of the property at Rs.1,50,000/- based on the potentiality of the properties. A total of 103.86 cents = 42.05 Ares of property was injuriously affected. So, the total compensation of the land is (103.86 x 1,50,000) = Rs.1,55,79,000/-. The percentage of diminution of land value is taken as 50%, thus the compensation for the diminution of land value after deducting 50% is fixed at Rs.77,89,500/-.

7. The lower court awarded a total compensation of Rs.81,45,320/-. The 1 st respondent/affected party has already received an amount of Rs.54,687/- towards compensation. Therefore, the balance compensation payable is Rs.80,90,633/- rounded to Rs.80,90,700/- with interest at the rate of 8% from the date of cutting of trees till the date of realization. Being so, this Court finds the procedure adopted by the court below to be just and proper.

On going through the impugned order, it is seen that the compensation fixed for the injurious affection of land and the value fixed for the trees cut and removed is just and proper; therefore, the C.R.P. fails and is dismissed.

CRP.No.479 of 2018 CRP.No.479 of 2018 is filed by the claimant/affected party for enhancement of the compensation.

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