Subordinate court directed to dispose of land acquisition proceedings within six months.

The petitioners were claimants in OP (LA) NH No. 17 of 2023 pending before the Additional District Court–III, Thalassery.

They filed the present original petition under Article 227 of the Constitution seeking a direction for the expeditious disposal of that land-acquisition proceeding.

Since the relief sought was limited to an early disposal, the High Court called for a report from the District Court regarding the time required to conclude the case.

In its report dated 10 September 2026, the Additional District Judge stated that the matter could be disposed of within eight months.

1. Whether the High Court should issue a direction for the time-bound disposal of OP (LA) NH No. 17 of 2023 pending before the Additional District Court–III, Thalassery.

The Court applied its supervisory jurisdiction over subordinate courts to issue an appropriate direction for expeditious disposal of a pending judicial proceeding.

The direction was based on the court’s administrative assessment of the time reasonably required for disposal, as reflected in the report submitted by the Additional District Judge.

The petitioners sought only a direction for early disposal of the pending land-acquisition case.

The High Court therefore obtained a report from the concerned District Court rather than independently determining a disposal timeline.

Although the subordinate court assessed that eight months would be necessary, the High Court, considering the nature of the limited relief sought, directed disposal within a shorter period of six months from receipt of the judgment.

The Court consequently resolved the issue by imposing a time-bound direction without expressing any opinion on the merits of the underlying land-acquisition dispute.

The Additional District Court–III, Thalassery, was directed to dispose of OP (LA) NH No. 17 of 2023 within six months from the date of receipt of a copy of the judgment.