Expanding Compensation in Land Acquisition: Inclusion of Business Losses Under Statutory Definitions of Land

sketch of the Bombay High Court
Case
KASHINATH DUDHAJI GAIKWAD v. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANR (Bombay High Court, 07-09-2026)
Law
Land Acquisition Act, Transfer of Property Act.

Highlights of the Judgment:

  • Examination of the wide statutory definition of land under Section 3(a) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, encompassing benefits and structures arising from the soil.
  • Application of Supreme Court jurisprudence regarding the scope of references under Section 18 and the permissibility of amending claims for compensation.
  • Analysis of evidentiary standards required to prove business losses, specifically utilizing contemporaneous account books and customer records.
  • Rejection of hyper-technical approaches by reference courts when assessing claims made by rural agriculturists for ancillary losses like milk businesses.
  • Precedential interpretation ensuring that once a reference objecting to compensation quantum is validly sought, the entire compensation issue remains open.