Rachita Swain v. Land Acquisition Officer-Cum-Competent Authority, NH-203, Bhubaneswar
National Highways Act, 1956 – Section 3-G(5) – land acquisition compensation
Case brief
What is this about?
W.P.(C) No. 3061 of 2026, High Court of Orissa at Cuttack, decided 07.03.2026 (K.R. Mohapatra and Sanjay Kumar Mishra, JJ.). Petitioners (Rachita Swain and others, through Bhubananda Lenka, Advocate) sought interest @9% p.a. for the first year and @15% p.a. thereafter on aggregate land-acquisition compensation including solatium from the opposite parties (Land Acquisition Officer-cum-Competent Authority, Bhubaneswar and another), the land having been acquired by NHAI under the National Highways Act, 1956 with an award under Section 3-G. Petition dismissed: Petitioners, despite liberty in W.P.(C) No.8851 of 2023 (which referred to Mehrawal Khewaji Trust v. State of Punjab, (2012) 5 SCC 432), had not approached the Arbitrator under Section 3-G(5) and had only made a representation; liberty to work out remedies under law preserved.
What did the court decide?
The Court declined to entertain the writ petition: although liberty had been granted in W.P.(C) No.8851 of 2023 to avail the remedy before the appropriate forum, the Petitioners had only filed a representation before the competent Authority, Land Acquisition, and had not approached the Arbitrator under Section 3-G (5) of the National Highways Act, 1956.