In Brief
The appellants challenged a land acquisition award for a residential-cum-commercial complex in Chandigarh, arguing the award was passed beyond the two-year limit under section 11A of the Land Acquisition Act and was approved by the Advisor rather than the Administrator. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding that when computing the two-year period, stays granted in court proceedings must be excluded. The Court also found that stay orders concerning any pocket of a unified scheme apply to the entire scheme. Additionally, the award, though initially approved by the Advisor under delegated authority, was subsequently validated by ex post facto approval from the Administrator in 2015. The sanction for acquisition by the appropriate authority was not disputed, and multiple related matters had attained finality.
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