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The Himachal Pradesh High Court upheld landowners entitlement to interest on solatium in land acquisition cases, allowing a petition filed by Tek Ram and directing the authorities concerned to calculate and deposit the enhanced compensation in accordance with the law.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Sandeep Sharma on October 5, 2026, while hearing the petition. The court observed that the issue of payment of interest on solatium was no longer res integra, meaning that it had already been settled by judicial precedent. Justice Sharma relied on an earlier judgment delivered by a coordinate Bench of the High Court in Union of India versus Tek Ram and Others, decided on December 16, 2025. In that case, the court, relying on the Supreme Courts judgment in Sunder Singh versus Union of India (2001), had held that interest on solatium was payable. During the proceedings, Senior Panel Counsel Nand Lal Thakur, appearing for the Union of India, opposed the relief sought by the petitioner, citing proceedings in Union of India versus Jagat Ram. He submitted that the Supreme Court had stayed the matter in a Special Leave Petition. However, the High Court rejected the objection, clarifying that the stay pertained to an order passed in Review Petition No. 60 of 2025 and not to the main judgment dated November 6, 2015. The court, therefore, found no impediment to granting the relief sought by the petitioner. Allowing the petition, the High Court directed the respondents to calculate the enhanced compensation, including interest on the solatium, strictly in accordance with the Supreme Courts judgment in Sunder Singh versus Union of India. The authorities have also been directed to deposit the enhanced compensation amount with the Registry of the High Court within the stipulated period. As per the operative directions, the enhanced compensation must be calculated within six weeks, and the amount must be deposited within eight weeks thereafter. (ANI)
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