Bombay High Court

BALAJI NAMDEV DAPKE AND ANRversusTHE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

Disposal: PARTLY ALLOWED AND PARTLY DISMISSED
Bench: SHAILESH P BRAHME

Holding

The Reference Court committed patent illegality by not accepting the private valuer’s report, and the compensation is enhanced to Rs 2,29,916 with interest under the Land Acquisition Act.

Summary

The appellants challenged a 2019 award by the Reference Court that granted compensation of Rs 68,928 with only a 40% enhancement for their house acquired for the Lendi project, arguing that the court should have accepted the private valuer’s report of Rs 2,29,916 in full. The respondents contended that the award was adequate and no further enhancement was justified. The High Court examined the consistency of prior decisions that accept private valuers’ reports for parity‑based compensation and held that the Reference Court committed a patent illegality by not adopting the valuer’s figure. Consequently, the appeal was partly allowed, raising the compensation to Rs 2,29,916 and directing interest under Sections 28 and 34 of the Land Acquisition Act. The remainder of the original award was left unchanged, and the parties were ordered to pay the deficit court fees and return the record to the Reference Court.

Issues considered

Whether the Reference Court erred in not fully accepting the private valuer’s report for compensation under the Land Acquisition Act.
Whether parity‑based enhancement of compensation is permissible in the present case.
Whether interest under Sections 28 and 34 of the Land Acquisition Act is payable on the enhanced compensation.

Legislation cited

Land Acquisition Act — s. 11, 28, 34, 4

Subjects

land acquisition
compensation
private valuer
parity
interest
Section 4
Section 11
Section 28
Section 34

Judgment

2026:BHC-AUG:6747

1 59 FA 1454 25

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT
AURANGABAD

59 FIRST APPEAL NO. 1454 OF 2025

BALAJI NAMDEV DAPKE AND ANR
VERSUS
THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
...
Advocate for Appellant : Ms. L.R. Thakur h/f Mr. Patil Laxmikant C.
AGP for Respondent nox. 1 & 2 : Mr. N.D. Raje
Advocate for Respondent No. 3 : Mr. Narwade Vinayak P.
…

CORAM : SHAILESH P. BRAHME, J.
DATE : 12.02.2026.

FINAL ORDER :

. Appellants are questioning judgment and award dated
15.06.2019 passed by the Reference Court in L. A. R. No. 235 of
2012 and seeking enhancement of compensation on the ground of
parity.

2. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the appellants that
this Court has been taking consistent view in case of acquisition of
house property to accept private valuer’s report for awarding the
compensation. The Reference Court only granted enhancement to
the extent of 40% instead of accepting the valuer’s report.

3. The submissions of the appellants are contested by the
respondents. It is submitted that no case is made out for
enhancement and adequate compensation has already been granted
by the Reference Court.

4. The acquisition of the house property is for Lendi project and
2 59 FA 1454 25

the property is from village Itgyal, Tq. Mukhed, Dist. Nanded. The
notification under Section 4 was issued on 03.05.2007 and award
was passed under Section 11 on 27.08.2010. Following are the
material particulars.

L.A.R. NO. First Appeal House no. and L.A.O. Reference Valuation and
& date of no. area granted Court granted Exh. no. of
decision compensati enhancement valuation
on report
235/2012 1454/2025 Old H. No. 339 Rs. 68928/- 40% Rs. 2,29,916/-
15.06.2019 new H.No. 244, Rs. 27571/- Exh. 25.
52.50 square
meter

5. Appellants have adduced evidence of private valuer at Exhibit
25. The valuation is shown to be of Rs.2,29,916/-. There is no
contra evidence adduced by the respondent – acquiring body. This
Court has been taking consistent view in accepting the report of the
private valuer for enhancing the compensation. A useful reliance can
be had to following judgments of the of this Court:
(i) Kashinath s/o Nagnth Vs. State of
Maharashtra in First Appeal No. 2460/2021,
decided on 13.07.2022.
(ii) Ramesh s/o Govindrao Patil Vs. State of
Maharashtra, in First Appeal No. 1814/2023,
decided on 18.12.2025.

6. The Reference Court has committed patent illegality in
awarding the compensation marginally instead of accepting the
report of private valuer in entirety. I, therefore, pass following order.
3 59 FA 1454 25

ORDER
A. The first appeal is allowed partly.

B. The appellants are entitled to compensation of
Rs.2,29,916/- for the acquired house property.

C. The appellants shall be entitled to receive interest
U/Sec. 28 and 34 of the Land Acquisition Act in view of the
judgment of the Full Bench of this Court in the matter of
State of Maharashtra Vs. Kailash Shiva Rangari [2016 AIR
(Bom.)141].

D. Save and except above, the impugned judgment and
award shall remain unaltered.

E. The appellants shall pay the deficit court fees.

F. Award be drawn up accordingly.

G. Record and proceedings shall be sent back to the
Reference Court.

( SHAILESH P. BRAHME J. )

mkd/-

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