New Delhi, Dec. 26 -- The Supreme Court has held that courts must not restrict compensation in land acquisition cases to the amount claimed by landowners if the law entitles them to a higher sum, underlining that it is the judiciary's duty to assess and award just compensation based on statutory principles, not on the pleadings of claimants. A bench of justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Vipul M Pancholi said that once a court arrives at a finding on the correct market value of acquired land, it cannot reduce the compensation on the ground that the landowner did not specifically seek a higher amount. "It is the duty of the Court to assess the compensation for which the landholder is entitled and not the claims made by the landholders," held ...