The Allahabad High Court held that once a District Magistrate decides that a land acquisition has lapsed under Section 24 of the 2013 land acquisition law, the State Government cannot stay or cancel that decision through an executive order. The court said the law gives the State no such power over a quasi-judicial decision.
What this changes for a title check
Section 24 of the 2013 land acquisition law lets landowners claim that an old acquisition has lapsed if the government neither paid compensation nor took possession within the required time. Once a District Magistrate accepts that claim, the land is treated as no longer acquired and effectively reverts to the owner. This ruling means the government cannot simply issue an executive order to freeze or undo that finding while it decides what to do next. For a title check on land that was once under acquisition, a District Magistrate's lapse order is now harder for the government to sidestep, so it carries more weight as proof that the acquisition is dead and the original owner's title stands. A lawyer should ask for this specific order, not just the original acquisition notification, when the land history includes an old, seemingly abandoned acquisition.