The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday quietly closed the curtain on a long-running land acquisition dispute from SPSR Nellore district, dismissing the State’s appeal and standing by the compensation granted to local landowners. The packed cause list moved fast, but for the villagers of Gundavolu in Rapur mandal, the order meant the end of a legal wait stretching over a decade.
Background
The case arose from the acquisition of agricultural land for a public project, with the Special Deputy Collector challenging an earlier decision that enhanced compensation payable to nearly 500 landowners. The government argued that the reference court had gone overboard in fixing higher rates, claiming the valuation did not reflect ground realities.
Read also:- Patna High Court Sets Aside Suicide Abetment Conviction, Says Marriage Discord Alone
On the other side were farmers and families who said the original award barely matched market value, let alone the loss of livelihood. Many of them had been attending hearings for years, names changing as legal heirs were brought on record, a reminder of how slow land cases can be.
Court’s Observations
A Division Bench of Justice Ninala Jayasurya and Justice Tuhin Kumar Gedela was not persuaded by the State’s objections. The judges noted that the reference court had relied on proper sale examples and evidence, not guesswork.
“The Court does not find any perversity or legal infirmity in the approach adopted by the reference court,” the bench observed, underlining that appellate courts should interfere only when valuation is clearly unreasonable. In simpler terms, the judges said they would not redo the math just because the government was unhappy with the figure.
The bench also remarked that landowners cannot be left shortchanged merely because acquisition is for a public purpose. Fair compensation, it said, is a statutory right, not a concession.
Read also:- Madhya Pradesh High Court Steps In, Scraps Railway-Constituted Arbitral Tribunal in Cable
Decision
With these findings, the High Court dismissed the land acquisition appeal filed by the Special Deputy Collector and affirmed the enhanced compensation awarded to the claimants. No costs were imposed, bringing the prolonged litigation to a close with the reference court’s award left intact.
Case Title: The Special Deputy Collector, T.G.P., Rapur vs State of Jharkhand & Others
Case No.: Land Acquisition Appeal Suit No. 65 of 2015
Case Type: Land Acquisition Appeal
Decision Date: 22 December 2025
