A beneficiary’s challenge to land-acquisition damage awards fails under settled precedent.

The Executive Engineers of Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Ltd., the beneficiary of the acquisitions, filed ten writ petitions under Articles 226 and 227 challenging land-acquisition awards. Most petitions sought to quash awards granting damages; one challenged a damage award dated 31 July 2025 relating to Veerapur village.

The Court noted that the underlying damages concerned the period between taking possession and issuance of the preliminary notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

Whether the beneficiary of the acquisition could obtain writ relief quashing the impugned awards granting damages to the land losers.

Whether the petitions should be dismissed in light of the coordinate Bench’s ruling in W.P. No. 106315/2025 and the authorities referred to there.

The Court relied on the coordinate Bench’s decision in W.P. No. 106315/2025 (18 August 2026), which followed earlier Karnataka High Court decisions dismissing comparable petitions by acquisition beneficiaries.

The quoted reasoning in that decision relied on National Highway Authority of India v. Resham Singh and Others for the proposition that where a State instrumentality acts arbitrarily by denying landowners compensation-related relief, the High Court may grant relief under Article 226 to address an Article 14 violation; it also recognised that denial of compensation legally due may implicate the protection under Article 300.

The Court additionally referred to Union of India v. Tarsem Singh, M/s Golden Iron and Steel Forgings, and Sunita Mehra as authorities considered in that reasoning.

The Court observed that the petitions raised an issue already addressed by the coordinate Bench and that the reliefs sought were materially identical to those considered in W.P. No. 106315/2025.

Applying that decision and the precedents it relied on, the Court found no basis to distinguish these challenges to the awards, including the challenge to the 2025 damage award.

Pending interlocutory applications, if any, were disposed of as no longer requiring consideration.