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Andanayya and Ors. v. Deputy Chief Engineer and Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 293Decided 25 Mar 2026
C.A. No.-003897-003903 - 2026 (arising out of SLP (C) Nos. 2587-2593 of 2021)
Justice M. M. Sundresh · Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh

Background

Landowners in Mavanoor Village, Karnataka, lost land to acquisition for a railway line, initially awarded Rs. 40,000/acre by the Land Acquisition Officer. When some landowners sought a court reference and secured Rs. 2,00,000/acre, the appellants (who hadn't sought reference themselves) applied under Section 28-A of the Act for the same enhanced rate and received it. Later, when other landowners' High Court appeals further raised compensation to Rs. 3,50,000/acre, the appellants filed a second Section 28-A application seeking that higher rate too, but this was rejected on the ground that they had already accepted compensation once, and the rejection was eventually upheld by a Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court, which held Section 28-A only applies to Reference Court awards, not appellate awards.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeals, setting aside the High Court's judgment. It held that a second application under Section 28-A is maintainable even after an earlier one has been allowed and money received, and that this extends to enhancements granted by appellate courts (High Court or Supreme Court), not just the original Reference Court award. Relying on the "doctrine of merger" and a three-judge precedent (Pradeep Kumari) over a later, per incuriam two-judge decision (Ramsingbhai Jerambhai) that the High Court had wrongly followed, the Court reasoned that Section 28-A's purpose is to ensure parity among similarly-placed landowners, so once any landowner gets an enhanced award from a higher court, others in the same position are entitled to invoke Section 28-A for the same benefit, regardless of having accepted an earlier lower enhancement.

Lesson Learnt

Land acquisition compensation law is built around ensuring equal treatment among landowners whose land was taken in the same acquisition, accepting an earlier enhanced compensation payout does not stop a landowner from later claiming parity with others who subsequently secured an even higher amount through appeal.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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