In Brief
The State of Maharashtra challenged High Court orders quashing land acquisition proceedings on grounds that the final award under Section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, was not declared within two years of the declaration under Section 6. The Supreme Court held that when a single acquisition scheme is divided into multiple pockets and interim stays are granted by courts in relation to some pockets, the statutory period for declaring awards is enlarged by excluding the stay periods. The periods of stay granted in related writ petitions must be excluded from the two-year computation under Section 11A. The Court allowed the appeals, quashed the High Court orders, and dismissed the writ petitions.
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