India, Feb. 4 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI) application seeking to limit compensation benefits for landowners whose properties were acquired between 1997 and 2015 for highway projects. The court upheld that these landowners are entitled to solatium and interest, reinforcing the principle of fair compensation.

Rejecting NHAI's argument that the 2019 ruling in the Tarsem Singh case should apply only prospectively, a bench of justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan emphasised that denying rightful compensation would violate Article 14 (right to equality).

"When a provision is declared unconstitutional, any continued disparity strikes at the core of Article 14 and must be rectified,...