PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has refused to condone a 714-day delay by the State government in filing an appeal against enhanced land acquisition compensation, holding that the government cannot seek special treatment by citing bureaucratic procedures and "administrative delay" to postpone payment to landowners.
Dismissing the State's application for condonation of delay, the Division Bench of Justice Neela Gokhale and Justice Amit Jamsandeckar observed that the explanation offered by the Executive Engineer for the delay was nothing more than the movement of a file through various government offices.
The matter concerns the acquisition of land for the construction of a road from Mestabhat to Talpone in the Shiroda constituency. As per case details before the Bench, while the Land Acquisition Officer had awarded compensation of Rs 25 and Rs 80 per sq m in 2012, the District Judge at Ponda enhanced the market value to Rs 675 per sq m by judgment dated October 16, 2023. The State challenged that order only on January 7, 2026, resulting in a delay of 714 days.
The Bench noted that the government's own explanation showed the file remained with the Executive Engineer's office for 99 days before moving through various departments, spending 239 days in the Chief Minister's office and another 71 days with the PWD Minister before finally reaching the Advocate General's office.
“A perusal of the explanation indicates that the file was pending with the Office of the Executive Engineer, PWD division, for 99 days; thereafter, it lay pending with other authorities till it journeyed its way to the office of the Chief Minister. The file sat there for as many as 239 days, and once again, after making its way through various departments and officials, it reached the PWD Minister on March 11, 2025. It rested there for another 71 days and proceeded through another four departments/officials before finally reaching the office of the Advocate General and the advocate concerned with the filing of the present appeal...,” it said.
"The entire period of delay is characterised as an 'administrative delay'," the court observed while recording the State's explanation.
Referring to various Supreme Court judgments, the Bench held that the State had failed to justify the extraordinary delay.
"... we find no justification in the explanation furnished by the Appellant for the delay. The Appellant cannot be allowed to delay payment of the compensation for land acquired from the Respondent," the Bench held while dismissing the application for condonation of delay.
