The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside Lok Adalat awards passed in a land acquisition dispute concerning the acquisition of land in Kommepalli Village for mining operations of Singareni Collieries Company Ltd. The Land Acquisition Officer had passed an award in 2013 determining compensation at Rs 3,48,935 per acre. As disputes existed regarding the persons entitled to the compensation and its apportionment, the matter was referred to the District Judge under Sections 30 and 31 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
During the pendency of related proceedings, a coordination meeting was held in 2015 where it was proposed that the disputes be resolved through Lok Adalat. The Lok Adalat subsequently passed 16 awards concerning the acquired land. Several claimants challenged the awards, contending that the settlement did not include all persons who were disputing their entitlement to the compensation.
Aggrieved by the High Court's dismissal of the appellants' challenge to the Lok Adalat award, an appeal was filed before the Supreme Court. Setting aside the High Court's decision, the bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra noted that the High Court had erred in upholding the awards passed by the Lok Adalat. The Court observed that the awards did not reflect a genuine agreement under Section 29 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, since all disputing claimants were neither parties nor signatories to the settlement.
The judgment authored by Justice Pardiwala stated: 'The challenge to awards passed by the Lok Adalat in the second writ petition was on the ground that the appellants-claimants did not consent to the settlement drawn by the Lok Adalat. Further, although the challenge to the said awards was pending, yet the High Court, in the third writ petition, directed disbursement of compensation.' The Court added that the High Court erred in directing the disbursement of the compensation awarded by the Lok Adalat.