KATHMANDU: A two-judge Supreme Court bench of Justices Hari Prasad Phuyal and Meghraj Pokharel has barred the state from building infrastructure on private land without first securing the owner’s consent or providing appropriate compensation.
The ruling stems from a petition brought by Chopindra Bahadur Tamang, who challenged the Harkapur Road Division Office for bifurcating his farmland in Okhaldhunga to construct the Palapu–Tapkedanda–Koshbhanjyang–Kakani road segment.
Rather than ordering the physical demolition of the active public thoroughfare, the court issued a writ of mandamus instructing officials to calculate and distribute compensation via a formal valuation committee.
Reinforcing the constitutional guarantee to property under Article 25, the justices asserted that public utility initiatives cannot shortcut statutory processes like those defined in the Land Acquisition Act of 1977.
To prevent similar conflicts, the court directed the government to establish clear guidelines that delegate acquisition, rehabilitation, and dispute-resolution mechanisms across federal, provincial, and local levels.
