In Brief
A real estate company acquired approximately 15 acres in a 136-acre land acquisition under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The initial award granted Rs. 25 lakh per acre, but a Reference Court raised this to Rs. 41.81 lakh. The company applied under Section 28-A for redetermination and received the enhanced amount in March 2014. Subsequently, other landholders' appeals secured a further increase to Rs. 2.80 crore per acre (later reduced to Rs. 2.38 crore by the Supreme Court). The company then filed a writ petition challenging its earlier award. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition, holding that the company's inaction in not monitoring the appeals, combined with unexplained delay in approaching the courts after discovering higher compensation, disentitled it to relief under Article 226 of the Constitution.
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