[Land Acquisition] "The Constitution Bench Judgment Left Some Questions Unsaid, Requires Examination": CJI SA Bobde

The Supreme Court on Monday orally remarked that the Constitutional Bench judgment on Land Acquisition [Indore Development Authority V. Manoharlal & Ors.] left certain questions unsaid and required examination.

A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde, Justices AS Bopanna & V. Ramasubramaniun said that there were some questions which were required to be discussed and some aspects were left unsaid by the 5-judge bench decision which was delivered on March 6, 2020.

In this context, CJI SA Bobde remarked that the bench would like to be clear about certain aspects and sought the Solicitor General's assistance. 

Apropos this, CJI SA Bobde orally said,

"The judgment has given the Government laxity, which the parliament did not want to give government."

When the matter was called out, it was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that matters were kept pending and issues were referred to the Constitution bench in the instant case. Now that the Judgment had been put forth, about 600 matters were pending the Supreme Court and several other matters were pending in various High Courts, he added.

"The judgment of the Constitution Bench would operate differently depending upon the facts of each case. When the possession was taken, what was the nature of possession, what was the date of award, whether there was any stay intervening because the CB judgment says now that the stay period will have to be excluded," said the Law Officer.

To this, the CJI replied,

"Suppose, there is a property which the government has not taken possession of and it has not paid compensation, then the acquisition will lapse. On the other hand, if the Government has taken possession but not paid compensation, in any way, the acquisition does not lapse. For how long is the question. For how long till the Government does not pay compensation, will the acquisition continue? 5 years period provided by Parliamentary law. If possession is taken but If the compensation is not paid, then the finding is that the acquisition does not lapse. For how long will it not lapse if the compensation is not paid? Forever."

SG also suggested that a one-pager may be given in all matters with requisite details such as date of award, stay etc. so that the Court can broadly examine whether the CB judgment would apply for that particular case or not. He also suggested that the Apex Court could remit the matter to High Courts for adjudication on fact, applying the principles settled by the Constitution bench judgment.

In this backdrop, the Court stated that the bench will take an appropriate decision and listed the matter(s) after two weeks. Court also allowed counsel to file their counter(s).

On March 5, 2020, a 5-judge bench of the Supreme Court held that proceedings under the Land Acquisition Act 1894 will not lapse if the compensation has been tendered by deposit in treasury.

The bench had affirmed the view in the 2018 Indore Development Authority case, overruling the 2014 judgment in Pune Municipal Corporation case.

A bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, M R Shah and Ravindra Bhat had heard the matter.