Acquisition notifications were quashed after the authority confirmed the proceedings had lapsed for non-deposit of compensation.

The petitions challenged preliminary and final notifications concerning lands in Marpadi Village, Moodbidri Hobli, issued for acquisition for an underground sewage-line project.

The petitioners contended that the notifications were issued under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 after the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 had come into force, and therefore lacked statutory authority.

At the hearing, the State submitted that no award had been passed and that the acquisition would not be pursued because the beneficiary local body had not deposited compensation.

1. Whether the challenged acquisition notifications should be quashed on the ground that they were issued under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 after the 2013 Act had come into force.

2. Whether any further adjudication was required where no award had been passed and the respondents had decided not to proceed with the acquisition.

The petitioners relied on Sections 4 and 6(1A)(2) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and contended that the acquisition proceedings were invalid because the 2013 Act had come into force before publication of the notifications.

The Court did not decide that statutory question or state a broader legal rule; it disposed of the petitions on the respondents’ submission that no award had been passed and the acquisition would not proceed.

The Court noted the State’s submission that the acquisition had not resulted in an award and would not continue because the beneficiary local body had failed to deposit compensation.

In light of that submission, the Court considered it unnecessary to examine the petitioners’ challenge to the statutory validity of the notifications or to determine the effect of the 2013 Act.

It granted that relief without deciding the petitioners’ contention that the notifications were invalid for having been issued under the repealed Act.