The Supreme Court on Tuesday (13 January 2026) restored compensation-related court petitions filed by 21 landowners from Haryana, after they were forced to withdraw their cases due to a Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment that had briefly struck down key provisions of the National Highways Act, 1956.
A Bench led by the Chief Justice, along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi, passed the order while hearing a batch of Special Leave Petitions linked to highway land acquisition disputes.
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Background of the Case
The landowners’ lands were acquired under the National Highways Act, 1956. After the competent authority passed the compensation award, the landowners challenged it by filing petitions under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 before the Additional District Judge, Bhiwani.
However, while those petitions were at the final argument stage, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 20, 2025 declared Sections 3G and 3J of the National Highways Act unconstitutional, which effectively disrupted the arbitration-based compensation mechanism under the Act.
In a hurried move, the landowners were allowed to withdraw their Section 34 petitions, and the Bhiwani court recorded the withdrawal on April 25, 2025.
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Court’s Observation
The Supreme Court noted that it had already stayed the High Court ruling on May 30, 2025, which temporarily revived the arbitration framework under the National Highways Act.
But the Bench flagged a serious problem: if the landowners were now asked to file fresh petitions, they would likely be blocked by limitation under Section 34(3) of the 1996 Act.
“The resultant effect is that the applicants have been rendered remediless,” the court recorded.
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Decision
Invoking its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to ensure “complete justice,” the Supreme Court set aside the April 25, 2025 order of the Additional District Judge, Bhiwani.
The Bench ordered that all Section 34 petitions filed by the 21 landowners “stand revived” and will continue from the stage at which they were withdrawn.
Case Title: M/s Riar Builders Pvt Ltd & Anr. vs Union of India & Ors.
Case No.: SLP (Civil) Diary No. 26933/2025 (with connected matters)
Decision Date: 13 January 2026
