Judgment :

G.S. Singhvi, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The importance of Section 5A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act'), which represents statutory embodiment of one of the facets of the rules of natural justice, i.e., audi alteram partem, has been highlighted in several judgments of this Court including Nandeshwar Prasad v. U.P. Govt. (1964) 3 SCR 425, Munshi Singh v. Union of India (1973) 2 SCC 337, Narayan Govind Gavate v. State of Maharashtra (1977) 1 SCC 133, Shyam Nandan Prasad v. State of Bihar (1993) 4 SCC 255, Union of India v. Mukesh Hans (2004) 8 SCC 14, Krishan Lal Arneja (2004) 8 SCC 453, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. v. Darius Shapur Chenai (2005) 7 SCC 627, Essco Fabs (P) Ltd. v. State of Haryana (2009) 2 SCC 377, Babu Ram v. State of Haryana (2009) 10 SCC 115, Anand Singh v. State of U.P. (2010) 11 SCC 242, Dev Sharan v. State of U.P. (2011) 4 SCC 769, Radhy Shyam v. State of U.P. (2011) 5 SCC 553, Raghbir Singh Sehrawat v. State of Haryana (2012) 1 SCC 792, Kamal Trading (P) Ltd. v. State of West Bengal (2012) 2 SCC 25, Surinder Singh Brar v. Union of India (2013) 1 SCC 403, and Usha Stud and Agricultural Farms Pvt. Ltd. v. State of Haryana 20