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State of U.P. & Ors. v. Abdul Ali & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 95 of 2017)Decided 4 Jan 2017
Civil Appeal No. 95 of 2017
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice A.M. Khanwilkar

Background

The State had acquired land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and passed its final Award in 1989. A particular plot belonging to the respondents was not covered by the original Section 4(1) notification or the Section 6 declaration, yet the Award purported to cover it. Years later, the State issued "corrigenda" in 1992 and 1993 trying to retroactively bring that plot within the original notification and declaration.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that once an Award has been passed, there is no scope to correct or expand the underlying Section 4(1) notification or Section 6 declaration: the Act only allows correction of clerical mistakes in the Award itself, under Section 13A, and only within six months. Since there was never a valid notification or declaration for this particular plot, the Award could not validly cover it, and the attempted corrigenda could not cure that defect after the fact. The appeal was dismissed, but the Court clarified the State remains free to start a fresh, lawful acquisition for the same plot if it wishes.

Lesson Learnt

The government cannot paper over a missing or defective land-acquisition notification by issuing corrections years after the Award: the proper notification must exist before the Award, not after.

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

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