In Brief
The Supreme Court addressed a complex batch of land acquisition appeals arising from conflicting judicial precedents on when acquisition proceedings lapse under the 2013 Act. After the Constitution Bench overruled Pune Municipal Corporation (holding lapses require both non-possession AND non-payment, not either/or), authorities sought to challenge earlier unfavourable orders. The Court held that res judicata does not apply between co-respondents without conflicting interests. Invoking Article 142, the Court extended the time to initiate fresh acquisition by one year (from 1 August 2024) for Groups A and B.1 cases, dispensing with certain procedural requirements to protect public infrastructure. Cases involving fraud allegations regarding subsequent purchasers were remitted to the High Court for fact-finding. Groups C.2 and C.3 were allowed, and Group B.2 dismissed as infructuous.
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