NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday said land acquisition proceedings would not lapse as long as the government had tendered the compensation. Also, proceedings initiated under an earlier Act will not lapse under the new legislation. The court said land owners who refuse to accept the compensation cannot press for cancellation of acquisition.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra clarified that acquisition will be deemed to have lapsed only when government authorities fail to take possession and pay compensation. The bench held that the compensation need not be deposited in the court. Landowners, who had refused to accept the compensation under the earlier Act, cannot now take benefit of deemed lapse of acquisition under Section 24 of the new Act of 2013, the bench said.
AAll previous judgments by the Supreme Court in this regard, including from 2014 in the Pune Municipal Corporation, were overruled by the court. The case pertains to the interpretation of Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act which came into force in 2013.
As per its provisions, if a land is acquired and the compensation of the land is not paid within five years, the acquisition process would lapse The case under consideration came to limelight following two contradictory judgments over whether a land acquired by the government would lapse, if it fails to deposit the compensation within five years to the land owner.
Relief for Navlakha, Anand TeltumbdE
The Supreme Court on Friday extended till March 16 protection from arrest granted to ights activist Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde in the Bhima Koregaon case. A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Indira Banerjee said it would hear on March 16 their appeals against Bombay HC’s order rejecting anticipatory bail pleas.
SC to hear Patel’s plea on march 20
The Supreme Court on Friday said it would hear on March 20 the appeal filed by Congress leader Hardik Patel challenging the Gujarat HC order rejecting his anticipatory bail plea in a case related to violence during the Patidar quota stir in 2015. Last week, the court had granted interim protection from arrest to Patel in the case.