Land acquisition won't lapse if compensation already paid: SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday said land acquisition proceedings would not lapse as long as the government had tendered the compensation.

The court said landowners who refuse to accept the compensation cannot press for cancellation of acquisition of the land.

A Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra and comprising Justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, M R Shah and Ravindra Bhat 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 essentially deposited in the court and the proceedings would not lapse.

Concluding the pronouncing of the verdict, Justice Mishra said the spirit of the judgment was that the benefit should go to the landowners, agriculturists and not intermediaries.

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 the provisions, if the land is acquired and the compensation of the land is not paid within five years, the acquisition process would lapse.

This case 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 a span of five years in the bank account of the landowners.With agency inputs