Compensation For Highway Land In Ramgarh Raised From Rs 11,000 To Rs 99,300 A Decimal
Families in Gandke village lost small plots when the national highway was widened. The officer paid the agricultural circle rate, and the reference court raised it only a little. The Jharkhand High Court has now fixed the rate from a real sale in the next village.
The Court held the reference court's flat rate was not in conformity with Section 26 of the 2013 land acquisition law. Market value must come from sale deeds in the same or the nearest village, within the three years before the notification. With no sale from Gandke itself, the only qualifying deed was from adjoining Kankebar, at Rs 99,300 a decimal. Compensation was raised to that rate, with all statutory benefits.
- Real sale prices decide value, not the agricultural circle rate.
- Only nearby land counts: the same village, or the nearest one proved on record.
- Only recent sales count: the three years before the acquisition notice.
- All statutory benefits follow on the enhanced rate.
- Court
- High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi
- Bench
- Justice HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE ANUBHA RAWAT CHOUDHARY
- Citation
- F.A. No. 346 of 2026 and connected appeals
- Case
- F.A. No. 346 of 2026 and connected appeals
- Decided
- 15 September 2026
- Outcome
- Appeals allowed; compensation enhanced to Rs 99,300 per decimal with statutory benefits
The land and the first two rates
Plots belonging to many families of Gandke village in Ramgarh district were acquired for widening a national highway. Most holdings were only a few decimals each, with road frontage on two or three sides.
The District Land Acquisition Officer valued all of it at the circle rate for agricultural land, Rs 3,740 per decimal. The Principal District Judge-cum-LARRA, Hazaribag, found that unacceptable and raised it to a flat Rs 11,000 per decimal, without discussing the sale deeds the landowners had produced.
The landowners appealed, saying the evidence supported a much higher figure. The State filed no cross appeal.
How the Court fixed the value
Justice Anubha Rawat Choudhary applied Section 26 of the 2013 Act. Nobody could cite a sale deed from Gandke itself. The landowners had proved that Kankebar is the adjoining, nearest village; they had not proved that for Murramkala, so deeds from Murramkala were set aside.
Only sales in the three years before the notification under Section 11(1), 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2019, could be used. Of the seven deeds on record, only one met both tests: a Kankebar sale of 14 July 2017, at Rs 99,300 per decimal.
The Court also noted the acquired plots had a real locational advantage, fronting the highway, and that the area was urbanising, with Ramgarh town four or five minutes away.
The result
The appeals were allowed and compensation raised from Rs 11,000 to a flat Rs 99,300 per decimal for the undisputed acquired land.
The claimants are entitled to all statutory benefits under the 2013 Act, as in the original awards, calculated at the enhanced rate.
Who argued it
Appearances as recorded in the judgment of the Court.
Frequently asked
How is market value fixed under the 2013 land acquisition law?
From sale deeds in the same or nearest village during the three years before the notification.
What did the Ramgarh landowners finally get?
Rs 99,300 per decimal, up from Rs 11,000, with statutory benefits.
If your land compensation looks too low
- Collect registered sale deeds from your own village first.
- If there are none, prove which village is actually the nearest.
- Use only sales from the three years before the acquisition notice.
- Show any advantage of your land, such as road frontage.
Source. High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi, F.A. No. 346 of 2026 and connected appeals, decided 15 September 2026 by Justice HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE ANUBHA RAWAT CHOUDHARY. This explainer is written from the judgment text as reported.
Claw tracks High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi and 24 other High Courts, reads every order handed back, and surfaces the directions that carry a deadline. clawlaw.in