'Land acquired in 1959, compensation still unpaid in full', Allahabad HC summons govt officials

65 years after land belonging to a family was acquired by the state, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has taken strong exception to the landowner still not receiving the entire compensation and summoned two senior officials to explain the delay.

A Bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla on Monday directed Lucknow’s Additional District Magistrate (Land Acquisition) and Chief Treasury Officer to appear personally before it on October 6. The court asked them to explain the failure to comply with orders passed by the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority (LARA) and why action should not be initiated against them.

Acquisition dates to 1959

The order came on a petition filed by Rajkumar Shailendra Singh, whose dispute with the state over the land has a lengthy history. The original acquisition proceedings date back to 1959, while the landowner has continued to pursue compensation through different stages of litigation.

According to the proceedings placed before the court, the Collector passed the original award on October 14, 1959. Decades later, on September 6, 1996, the reference court passed its award determining compensation.

State appeal dismissed

The state subsequently challenged the award through a first appeal filed in 2007. That appeal was eventually dismissed on September 9, 2019, bringing that stage of the litigation to an end.

Execution proceedings for recovery of the compensation have remained pending since 2019. The High Court noted that despite the passage of several years since the state’s appeal was dismissed, the petitioner had still not received the entire amount payable to him.

Rs 11.72 lakh paid

The court was informed that Singh had so far received only Rs 11.72 lakh towards compensation. According to the calculation before LARA, Rs 38.25 lakh was payable to him as of August 2025.

Counsel for the petitioner, Amit Jaiswal, further submitted that interest at the rate of 15 per cent per annum was payable on the outstanding amount. The final liability would therefore depend on the amount remaining unpaid and the interest applicable to it.

Court questions officials

The Bench noted that several orders issued by LARA for payment of compensation had not been complied with. It sought accountability from the officials responsible for processing and releasing the amount rather than allowing the execution proceedings to remain unresolved.

The ADM (Land Acquisition) and Chief Treasury Officer have consequently been directed to remain personally present before the court at the next hearing. They will have to explain the reasons for non-compliance and why action should not be initiated against them.

Decades-long wait

The case highlights an extraordinary delay between the original acquisition and payment of the compensation eventually determined through legal proceedings. Although the acquisition award dates to 1959, the reference court’s award came 37 years later in 1996, followed by another round of litigation initiated by the state.

Even after the state’s appeal was dismissed in 2019, the recovery proceedings have continued for another seven years. The High Court will now take up the matter again on October 6.