Karnataka HC Orders Fresh 2013 Act Compensation Awards For Landowners, Quashing KIADB’s Post-2022 Awards Under 1894 Act

The petitioners’ lands in Nandur-K village were acquired under the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Act, 1966 (KIAD Act). Preliminary notifications were issued on 9 December 2020 and final notifications on 23 November 2022.

The Special Land Acquisition Officer (SLAO) subsequently made general awards on 22 December 2025 in two petitions and on 13 March 2026 in the third, applying the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The petitioners challenged the awards, contending that compensation had to be determined under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, as incorporated into the KIAD Act.

Section 30 of the KIAD Act, as substituted by Karnataka Act 20 of 2020 with effect from 5 April 2022, provides that specified provisions of the 2013 Act—including provisions relating to compensation and the First Schedule—are deemed to form part of the KIAD Act for acquisitions under that Act.

The Court applied the principle that the substituted Section 30 governs awards made after its effective date, and relied on Smt. Anitha and Others v. State of Karnataka and Others, W.P. No. 4627/2024 (27 September 2024), which held that post-5 April 2022 awards under the 1894 Act could not be sustained.

Although the preliminary and final notifications pre-dated the substitution of Section 30, the impugned awards were made after 5 April 2022, when the substituted provision had taken effect. The Court therefore held that the SLAO could not determine compensation in those awards under the 1894 Act; the awards were required to apply the provisions of the 2013 Act incorporated into the KIAD Act.

Following the reasoning in Smt. Anitha, the Court concluded that the awards were unlawful and liable to be set aside.

The KIADB Land Acquisition Officer was directed to pass fresh awards in accordance with the 2013 Act within three months of receiving a certified copy of the order. Any amount already deposited or released to the landowners must be adjusted against the fresh awards.