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ARUN MISHRA, J.

1. The correct interpretation of Section 24 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (for short, 'the Act of 2013'), is the subject matter of reference to this five Judge Bench of this Court.

2. A three Judge Bench of this Court in Pune Municipal Corporation & Anr v Harakchand Misrimal Solanki & Ors 1, interpreted Section 24 of the Act of 2013. The order reported as Yogesh Neema & Ors v State of Madhya Pradesh2, a two-judge Bench, however doubted the decision in Sree Balaji Nagar Residents Association v State of Tamil Nadu 3 (which had followed Pune Municipal Corporation (supra) and also held that Section 24 (2) of the Act of 2013 does not exclude any period during which the land acquisition proceeding might have remained stayed on account of stay or injunction granted by any court) and referred the issue to a larger Bench. Later, in another appeal (arising out of S.L.P. (C) No.2131 of 2016 (Indore Development Authority v Shailendra (dead) through Lrs. & Ors.4) the matter was referred to a larger Bench on 7.12.2017; the Court noticed that:

3. The Court noticed that the reference to a larger Bench was pending, and had been made in Yogesh Neema (supra). The Court also felt that several other issues arose which it outlined, but were not considered in Pune Municipal Corporation (supra). The Court therefore, stated that the matter should be considered by a larger Bench and referred the case to Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India for appropriate orders. Indore Development Authority v Shailendra (hereafter, “IDA v Shailendra”) a Bench of three Judges was of the view that the judgment in Pune Municipal Corporation (supra) did not consider several aspects relating to the interpretation of Section 24 of the Act of 2013. Since Pune Municipal Corporation (supra) was a judgment by a Bench of coordinate strength, two learned judges in IDA v Shailendra opined prima facie that decision appeared to be per incuriam.
4. Later, in Indore Development Authority v Shyam Verma & Ors (SLP No. 9798 of 2016) considered it appropriate to refer the matter to Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India to refer the issues to be resolved by a larger Bench at the earliest. Yet again in State of Haryana v Maharana Pratap Charitable Trust (Regd) & Anr (CA No.4835 of 2015) referred the matter to Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India to constitute an appropriate Bench for consideration of the larger issue. These batch appeals were referred to a five Judge Bench, which after hearing counsel, framed the following questions, which arise for consideration:

74. Learned counsel stressed that there are no vested rights created in the State in any case till compensation has been paid and possession has been taken. The Act of 2013 is a beneficial legislation and a radical departure from the previous unjust and oppressive regime. It intends to confer significant benefits to the landowners and makes the exercise of the power of eminent domain compatible with our constitutional values. It ought to therefore be given an interpretation which favours the landowners. Finally, he argued that the decision in Indore Development Authority (supra) erroneously upset a consistent line of decisions which began with Pune Municipal Corporation (supra). Subsequent decisions of this Court following Pune Municipal Corporation (supra) have also considered a host of arguments/issues and there is no compelling 60Naga People’s Movement of Human Rights vs. Union of India (1998) 2 SCC 109 (5 Judges); R.S. Nayak v A.R. Antulay 1984 (2) SCC 183; and Life Insurance Corporation v D. J. Bahadur 1981 (1) SCC 315.