In Brief
The Supreme Court held that a corporate industrial entity (Santi Ceramics) cannot claim restoration of land that was acquired for TATA Motors' Singur Project based on the Court's earlier judgment in Kedar Nath Yadav. Although the Kedar Nath Yadav decision quashed the acquisition and ordered restoration to original landowners, that relief was designed specifically to protect vulnerable farming communities lacking financial resources. Santi Ceramics, a commercial manufacturing company with substantial assets, falls outside this protective framework. The company accepted full compensation without objection in 2006, failed to pursue available legal remedies, and remained passive while farmers litigated for years—only seeking restoration in 2016 after the Kedar Nath Yadav judgment. The Court held that relief operates only for parties who actively contested proceedings, not for passive recipients seeking to benefit from others' litigation.
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