In a land acquisition matter concerning an award passed on 15 February 1977, where connected first appeals concerning the same notification were decided by the High Court on different dates (8 July 2019 and 18 April 2022), a Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.
Vinod Chandran held that successive High Court orders in first appeals do not confer a fresh cause of action or extend the three-month limitation period for landowners to seek redetermination of compensation under Section 28A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The Court allowed NOIDA's appeal and rejected the landowners' Section 28A application as time-barred.
Legal Background
Section 28A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 allows persons interested in land covered by another award, who did not themselves seek a reference, to apply to the Collector for redetermination of compensation where the court has granted a higher amount to others, within three months from the date of the court's award. The 1894 Act has been replaced by the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, but cases arising from older acquisitions continue to be decided under it. The ruling reported here deals with when the three-month period begins.