SC asks Haryana to pay Rs 50 lakh each to home owners faced with demolition in Kant Enclave

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Wednesday enhanced to Rs 50 lakhs the compensation to 33 house owners in the Kant Enclave, a posh locality on the periphery of the national capital, whose houses have been declared unauthorized by the top court and face demolition.

This is part of the compensation that Haryana government has to pay to the those having houses in Kant Enclave faced with demolition in pursuance to September 11 judgement of the top court.

Almost doubling the compensation by the Haryana government, the bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice Deepak Gupta said that the state government will pay the enhanced compensation by December 10.

As the counsel for the state government told the court that as per its earlier order, the compensation to be paid by it comes to Rs 25 lakhs, Justice Lokur said that we have modified our order and directed the payment of Rs 50 lakh each to the 33 home owners.

The court ordered enhancement in the compensation as senior counsel Dushyant Dave told the court that the affected people are retired defence personnel, bureaucrats, scientists and that their properties are being undervalued for the compensation.

Urging the court to give more time to the effected people to find alternative dwellings, senior counsel Raju Ramachandran said a two-room DDA flat in the vicinity of Alaknanda, near Kant Enclave, costs something like Rs 2 crore.

The top court by its September 11, 2018, judgment while directing the demolition of concrete structures raised in Kant Enclave after August 18, 1992, had directed the compensation of Rs 50 lakh each to those whose structures would get demolished.

The court had ordered that The quantified amount will be paid, in equal proportion, by R. Kant & Co. and the Town & Country Planning Department of Haryana.