Karnataka HC Sets 8-Week Consent-Award Payment Deadline For 21 Upper Krishna Landowners After They Appear Before SLAO

The petitioners’ lands were included in a final land-acquisition notification issued under Section 19(1) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, dated 13 November 2022. A draft award had been prepared.

After the Government fixed consent-award compensation at ₹40,00,000 per acre, the petitioners submitted representations and affidavits agreeing to a consent award, but their request had not been acted upon.

They sought a direction requiring the respondents to grant the benefits of the Government Order dated 9 October 2025 and pass and pay the award.

The petitioners relied on earlier proceedings concerning landowners covered by the same notification, including W.P. No. 107245 of 2023; the State’s appeal from the order in that petition was dismissed as infructuous after the State reported compliance, and the related contempt proceedings were dropped.

The acquisition proceeded under Section 19(1) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, and the Court directed that the petitioners receive benefits under the Government Order dated 9 October 2025.

The Court also relied on its orders in W.P. Nos. 100331 of 2024 and 106191 of 2024 for the grant of those benefits, and considered the prior proceedings relating to W.P. No. 107245 of 2023, including the State’s reported compliance and the dismissal of its appeal as infructuous.

The Court treated the petitioners as similarly situated to landowners who had obtained relief in earlier proceedings concerning the same notification. Given the State’s reported compliance in the earlier matter and the directions in W.P. Nos. 100331 of 2024 and 106191 of 2024, it directed that the Government Order’s benefits be extended to these petitioners as well.

To give effect to that relief, the Court required the petitioners to appear before the Special Land Acquisition Officer and directed the officer to act under the Government Order and disburse the amount within a fixed period.

The petitioners were directed to appear before the Special Land Acquisition Officer on 31 October 2026 at 11:00 a.m.; the officer was directed to act in accordance with the Government Order and disburse the award or consent-award amount as expeditiously as possible, and within eight weeks of that first appearance. The State may seek an extension for valid reasons; the Court cautioned that any variance from the directions would be viewed seriously.