NEW DELHI, October 18 — A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India delivered a definitive ruling on Sunday reaffirming that the payment of 100% statutory solatium and statutory interest under the RFCTLARR Act 2013 is an absolute, non-derogable right for displaced landholders.
The apex court declared that compensation calculations under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 must reflect prevailing open-market transactional valuations rather than artificially depressed administrative circle rates. Where state agencies cause inordinate acquisition delays, landholders are legally entitled to 12% per annum additional compensation from the preliminary notification date.
The bench emphasized that mandatory Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) provisions cannot be substituted merely with financial compensations, ruling that public infrastructure development must scrupulously respect the constitutional protections granted to property ownership under Article 300A.
The statutory evolution of land acquisition jurisprudence (transition from the Land Acquisition Act 1894 to RFCTLARR 2013), the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act 1978 amending the Right to Property from a Fundamental Right to a Constitutional Right under Article 300A, and Social Impact Assessment (SIA) rules are central topics in UPSC GS-II and judicial exams.