Surya Kant J - The Legal Chamber

The Supreme Court held that the restoration remedy in Kedar Nath Yadav, grounded in protecting vulnerable agricultural communities, does not extend to industrial entities. A party that accepted compensation without challenge and failed to pursue statutory remedies cannot belatedly claim relief from a judgment secured by others through public interest litigation. Facts Of The Case: The case concerns a dispute over the restoration of 28 Bighas of land in Singur, West Bengal, originally acquired in 2006 for the Tata Nano manufacturing project. The land was purchased and converted for industrial use by M/s Santi Ceramics Pvt. Ltd. (Respondent No. 1), which established a manufacturing unit thereon. The acquisition process, conducted under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, was subsequently...

The Supreme Court upheld the rescission of land grants for breach of mandatory cultivation conditions under the Portuguese-era Organic Structure. It ruled that the conditions, rooted in public policy, could not be waived or condoned by mere state inaction. The Court further held that new legal grounds cannot be raised at the appellate stage, confining its analysis to the original pleadings and the specific provisions of the agrarian law. Facts Of The Case: The case concerns land in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, originally granted by the Portuguese government between 1923 and 1930 under contracts known as ‘Alvaras’. These grants, based on the legal principle of ‘emphyteusis’, gave the holders inheritable and transferable rights subject to the mandatory condition of bringing the land und...

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Supreme Court Settles Dadra & Nagar Haveli Land Case, Vacates Status Quo After Decades