Early Times Report
JAMMU, Jan 2: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has dismissed an intra-court appeal filed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and upheld the writ court direction to pay ?3,91,100 as compensation with 6% interest to Kushlaya Devi for damage to her property at Dhalwas, Ramban, allegedly caused during the four-laning work on NH-44.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal ruled that it found no illegality or perversity warranting interference with the judgment dated August 14, 2025, and held the appeal to be misconceived.
As per the case record, the respondent had approached the writ court seeking an inquiry and assessment of damage to her un-acquired land measuring 5 Kanals 17 Marlas (Survey No. 924), contending that debris dumping and blockage of culverts/drains led to the flow of mountain water onto her land, damaging the structures including shops.
NHAI, represented by Advocate Vipan Gandotra, challenged the writ court's reliance on a committee report dated October 27, 2022, arguing that the report indicated the damage was not attributable to NHAI and that cracks were linked to land subsidence rather than construction activity.
However, the Division Bench noted that the committee constituted by the Deputy Commissioner on July 8, 2022 was tasked only with assessing the percentage of damage, not determining the cause, and therefore any remarks on causation could not be used to deny the claim.
The court also took note of the official record showing that the valuation of the damaged structure was assessed at ?39.11 lakh, and that the Collectorate had sought ?11.02 crore for compensation to 71 damaged structures, which was approved in principle by NHAI through communication dated May 19, 2022.
Since the committee assessed the respondent's damage at 10%, the writ court had rightly awarded ?3,91,100 (10% of ?39.11 lakh) along with interest-an approach the Bench found justified.
Accordingly, the High Court dismissed the appeal and maintained the compensation award in favour of the claimant.
—(JNF) |
