Recently, a Constitutional Bench of Supreme Court has passed a landmark judgment upholding the Indore Development Authority
decision. It was held that proceedings under the Land Acquisition Act 1894 will not lapse if the compensation has been tendered by deposit in treasury. The Court further held that the landowners cannot insist that the amount should be deposited in Court so as to sustain the land acquisition proceedings under the old Act on the commencement of the RFCTLARR Act.
The Bench further clarified that if a person was tendered compensation but refuse to accept such compensation, then it is not open to him to claim lapse of acquisition due to non-payment or non-deposit of compensation.
Merely because the state could not deposit compensation in land owner’s account, the land acquisition proceedings will not be deemed to have lapsed.