New Delhi — The Supreme Court has held that a later High Court order merely following an earlier appellate ruling does not create a fresh three-month window under Section 28A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
The case concerned landowners who had accepted the original 1977 compensation without seeking a reference under Section 18. They applied for redetermination in May 2022 after the Allahabad High Court disposed of a connected first appeal. The Court found, however, that the first enhancement affecting the same village and acquisition notification had already been granted on July 8, 2019. Limitation therefore expired in October 2019.
Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran said Section 28A ordinarily operates from an award of the Reference Court. They recognised the narrow exception applied when a reference was rejected and the first enhancement came only in appeal, but ruled that successive appellate orders cannot repeatedly restart limitation. The Court also reaffirmed that only one Section 28A application is permissible.
Allowing NOIDA’s appeal, the Court set aside the High Court order and rejected the landowners’ application.
