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Raj Kumar and Ors. v. State of Punjab and Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 448Decided 3 May 2018
Civil Appeal No. 4764 of 2018
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar

Background

The appellants' land had been acquired by the State of Punjab over a decade earlier to set up a grain market. After several rounds of litigation challenging the acquisition, the High Court had held that the Section 6 declaration (confirming the acquisition) was issued within the time limit under Section 6(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Awards for compensation had already been passed, but some claimants had not yet been paid or had pending claims for enhanced compensation before the Reference Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court declined to reopen the question of whether the Section 6 declaration was validly published in time, holding that in the larger public interest and to do complete justice, this long-running litigation over the acquisition's validity should be brought to a close: it directed that there be no further adjudication on that point. On the separate issue of compensation, the Court directed the Reference Court to dispose of pending enhancement cases within three months, allowed claimants who had not yet approached the Reference Court to seek redetermination under Section 28A within three months of the award, and ordered the Collector to disburse already-fixed compensation amounts with interest within two months. The appeal itself (challenging the acquisition's validity) was thus finally disposed of, with only the quantum of compensation left to be worked out through the normal statutory machinery.

Lesson Learnt

Once a court has conclusively ruled on the legal validity of a land acquisition, that issue will not be reopened indefinitely through repeated rounds of litigation; affected landowners' real recourse for a fair price lies in pursuing compensation enhancement through the statutory Reference Court and redetermination process, not in relitigating the acquisition itself.

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

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