HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD WRIT - C No. - 29223 of 2025 Court No. - 29 HON'BLE MAHESH CHANDRA TRIPATHI, J. HON'BLE ANISH KUMAR GUPTA, J. 1. Heard Sri Arpit Agarwal, learned counsel for the petitioner; Sri P.N.Rai, learned counsel for the respondent no. 1-Union of India, Sri Ambrish Shukla, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel for the State-respondent no. 4 and Sri Pranjal Mehrotra, learned counsel for the respondent no. 2 & 3-NHAI. 2. The instant writ petition has been preferred for a mandamus directing the respondent authorities to make the payment of solatium @ 100% of the market value of the land, and other benefits to which the petitioners are entitled under law along with interest @ 24% over the solatium payable and compensation paid by the respondents; to be computed from the date of issuance of the Notification u/s 3D of the Act till the date of actual payment. 3. At the very outset, learned counsel for the petitioner has placed reliance upon the judgment of Hon'ble Apex Court in Union of India and another v. Tarsem Singh and others (2019) 9 Supreme Court Cases 304, wherein, it had been held by the Apex Court that Section 3J of the National Highways Act, 1956 (in short 'Act, 1956) by excluding the applicability of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 and thereby denying ‘solatium’ and ‘interest’ for lands acquired under the Act, 1956 is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. He submits that later on Misc. Application was also pressed by the NHAI seeking clarification regarding the aforesaid judgment, which had been disposed of vide order dated 4.2.2025 reported in AIR 2025 SC 1460. For ready reference, relevant paragraph 12 of order dated 4.2.2025 is reproduced herein below. Versus Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Apoorva Bhatt, Arpit Agarwal Counsel for Respondent(s) : A.S.G.I., C.S.C., Paras Nath Rai, Pranjal Mehrotra Shri Vaidya Yagyadutt Sharma Ayurvedic Mahavidyalaya .....Petitioner(s) Union Of India And 3 Others .....Respondent(s) " As already iterated, this triggered a chain reaction of writ petitions being filed across various High Courts by aggrieved landowners whose lands had been acquired by the NHAI in the period between 1997 and 2015 and who had not been granted the benefit of ‘solatium’ or ‘interest’, seeking parity with those who were found entitled to these statutory benefits prior to 1997 and post-2015. Since the High Courts have restored parity in these cases, NHAI has sought clarification of our judgement in Tarsem Singh (supra)." 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner in this backdrop states that the petitioner's holding has also been acquired by the NHAI in the year 2019 and till date no solatium or interest has been accorded to the petitioner. The controversy in hand is already settled by Hon'ble Apex Court in Tarsem Singh (supra) and the instant writ petition may also be disposed of in terms of Tarsem Singh (supra). 5. Per contra, Sri Pranjal Mehrotra, learned counsel for the NHAI fairly states that no doubt the law is already settled by Hon'ble Apex Court in Tarsem Singh (supra). As the review application is already preferred by the NHAI bearing Diary No. 44096/2025, some breathing time be accorded so that fate of the review application may be apprised to the Court on the next date fixed. 6. We have proceeded to examine the record in question as well as the judgment of the Apex Court in Tarsem Singh (supra) and we do not find any good ground not to accord the similar indulgence only on account of pendency of review application before the Apex Court. In the interest of parity and fair opportunity, this Court finds it appropriate to dispose of the present writ petition on the similar terms. 7. Accordingly, the present writ petition is disposed of in terms of the judgment rendered in Tarsem Singh (supra). The respondent-Authority is directed to pass a reasoned and speaking order on the claim of the petitioner, keeping in view the facts of the case and relevant legal precedents, preferably within a period of three months from the date of production of a certified copy of this order. September 11, 2025 A.K.Srivastava WRIC No. 29223 of 2025 2 (Anish Kumar Gupta,J.) (Mahesh Chandra Tripathi,J.) Digitally signed by :- ARUN KUMAR SRIVASTAVA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad