The Supreme Court in Kalyani (D) vs Sulthan Bathery Municipality categorically held that a person’s land can be taken/acquired only with the due process of law, and if the land has been voluntarily given up by the owner, it must be proved so by the Government Body claiming it.
In the instant case, the owners of the land in question had voluntarily given the land to Sulthan Bhathery Grama Panchayat (later on declared a Municipality) to widen the Sultan Bahteri Byepass Road in consideration of adequate compensation. However, the Municipality failed to give the compensation despite various applications, reminders and representations.
The matter finally reached the Supreme Court and the Court at the very outset stated that “What is being alleged is that it was a voluntarily surrender of rights for no consideration. This is the stand taken by Panchayat/Municipality. If the Panchayat/Municipality is taking this stand, the burden would be on the Panchayat/Municipality to establish such voluntary surrender. A memorandum or an agreement or a written document ought to have been executed by the appellants stating their free will to surrender for no consideration in favour of the Panchayat/Municipality....”
The Court also stated that the voluntary give up should have been clearly documented under the road widening scheme, and if there was no such scheme, the documentation of the voluntary give up of land becomes all the more important. It also observed that the construction/widening of the road would be a public purpose but there is no justification for not paying compensation and the action of the authority would be arbitrary, unreasonable and clearly violative of Article 300-A of the Constitution.
"Article 300A clearly mandates that no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law. In the present case, we do not find, under which authority of law, the land of the appellants were taken and they were deprived of the same. If the Panchayat and the PWD failed to produce any evidence that appellants have surrendered their lands voluntarily, depriving the appellants of the property would be in violation of Article 300-A of the Constitution.", the bench stated.