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19. Reliance has been placed by the landowners on a three Judges’ Bench decision in State of Punjab v. Mst. Qaisar Jehan Begum and another AIR 1963 SC 1604 so as to contends that date of effective communication would be relevant as per concept of fair play and natural justice and the proviso to Section 18(2) means the date when the award is communicated or is known by him actually or constructively. Knowledge of the award means knowledge of the content of the award. This Court has referred to decision in Raja Harish Chandra Raj Singh v. The Deputy Land Acquisition Officer and another AIR 1961 SC 1500. The question arose whether reference sought was within limitation, the landowners were neither present nor were represented before the Collector when the award was made. No notice under Section 12(2) was issued. In the aforesaid context, this Court considered the decision in Raja Harish Chandra (Supra) that literal meaning of six months from the date of Collector’s award would not be appropriate. The exception in the proviso must be the date of the award communicated to either party or was known by him either actually or constructively. This Court has discussed the question as: