KIADB awards made after April 5, 2022 must follow 2013 land-acquisition law, Karnataka High Court rules

The petitioner’s land in Sy. No. 71/6 at Nandur (K), Kalaburagi, was included in a preliminary acquisition notification dated 9 December 2020 under Section 28(1) of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Act, 1966 (“KIAD Act”), followed by a final notification under Section 28(4) dated 23 November 2022.

The Special Land Acquisition Officer, KIADB, passed a general award on 25 April 2025 under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. At the hearing, the petitioner abandoned the challenge to the acquisition notifications and confined the petition to challenging the award, contending that compensation had to be determined under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (“2013 Act”)

1. Whether the general award passed under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, after the substitution of Section 30 of the KIAD Act, was legally sustainable

2. Whether the petitioner was entitled to a fresh award under the applicable provisions of the 2013 Act, notwithstanding that the acquisition notifications pre-dated the amendment to Section 30

Section 30 of the KIAD Act, as substituted by Karnataka Act No. 20 of 2020 with effect from 5 April 2022, incorporates specified provisions of the 2013 Act—including provisions relating to determination and payment of compensation—and deems them part of the KIAD Act for lands acquired under its acquisition chapter

The Court applied the principle that an award passed after the substituted Section 30 came into force must be made under the applicable provisions of the 2013 Act, rather than under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. It also relied on the coordinate Bench decision in Smt. Anitha and Others v. State of Karnataka and Others, W.P. No. 4627/2024, decided 27 September 2024, which held that post-amendment general awards made under the 1894 Act could not be sustained

Although the preliminary and final notifications were issued in 2020 and 2022, respectively, the award was passed on 25 April 2025—after substituted Section 30 took effect on 5 April 2022. The Court therefore treated the date of the award, rather than the dates of the acquisition notifications, as decisive for determining the applicable compensation regime.

Applying Section 30 and the reasoning in Smt. Anitha, it held that the SLAO lacked authority to pass the award under the 1894 Act and that the award was legally unsustainable

The general award dated 25 April 2025 was set aside, and the KIADB Land Acquisition Officer was directed to make a fresh award under the 2013 Act within three months of receiving a certified copy of the order. Any amount already deposited or released to the petitioner is to be adjusted against the fresh award.