A remand must leave the Reference Court free to decide the reference in accordance with law.

The Reference Court had passed enhanced-compensation awards in proceedings concerning acquired lands without impleading the beneficiary, Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited.

In two writ petitions, the Single Judge quashed the awards and remitted the matters for fresh consideration, but also imposed directions concerning the beneficiary’s participation, verification of payments for similarly placed lands, deposit of 25% of the awarded compensation, and timelines for disposal.

The beneficiary appealed only against conditions (iv) to (ix) of the operative order.

The appeals were heard with delay condoned.

1. Whether the Single Judge’s directions in conditions (iv) to (ix), governing the conduct and disposal of the remanded references, should be set aside.

2. Whether the appeals could be disposed of in accordance with the coordinate Bench decision in W.A. No. 100475 of 2026.

Section 4 of the Karnataka High Court Act, 1961 provides for writ appeals before the High Court.

The Court applied the coordinate Bench’s principle that where a writ petition succeeds on the ground that a Reference Court’s award was made without impleading the beneficiary, the Reference Court should be left to determine the remanded proceedings in accordance with law; directions that restrict its discretion on how to decide the reference are inappropriate.

The appeals challenged only the additional conditions imposed by the Single Judge, not the quashing of the awards or the remand itself.

The Court agreed with the coordinate Bench that the Reference Court must have a free hand to decide the references according to law and that the challenged conditions improperly constrained that discretion.

It therefore followed the coordinate Bench’s approach while retaining the Single Judge’s decision to set aside the awards and remit the matters.

The parties present were directed to appear before the Reference Court on 26 October 2026, after which the Reference Court was to issue notice to the claimants and any other interested parties and proceed in accordance with law.

All pending applications were closed.