IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH AT JABALPUR BEFORE HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE VISHAL MISHRA

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ON THE 12 OF FEBRUARY, 2026 WRIT PETITION No. 29186 of 2023 POORAN LAL KORI Versus THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS Appearance:

Shri Manoj Tiwari - Advocate for the petitioner.

Shri V. S. Choudhary - Govt. Advocate for the respondents no. 1 to 4/

State.

Shri Pankaj Tiwari - Advocate for the respondent no.5.

ORDER This petition under Article 226 of Constitution of India has been filed seeking following reliefs:-

(A) That, the Hon’ble court may kindly call the record of acquisition of land pertaining to khasra No. 489 ( renumbered as khasra No. 387 and 385 ), in the interest of justice.

(B) The Hon’ble Court may kindly issue a writ of mandamus to direct the respondent concerned to release the agricultural land of khasra number 385 and 387 in favour of the petitioner except the area of canal exercising power under Section 48(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, in the interest of justice.

(C.) That , alternatively, the Hon’ble Court may also issue a writ of mandamus declaring land acquisition proceeding in respect of khasra No.489 as lapsed by virtue of Section 24 of Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 because no physical possession has been taken, in the interest of justice.

(D). That, the Hon’ble Court may kindly direct the respondent Gram Panchayat to restore the possession of the land of khasra No. 387 to the petitioner, in the interest of justice.

E. That , the Hon’ble Court may issue any other directions as the Hon’ble Court deems fit in the interest of justice.

2. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner was the owner of the agriculture land bearing Khasra No. 489 village Sunvara, District Jabalpur. A part of the said land was acquired in the year 1981 for the purpose of construction of a canal and canal was constructed only on a strip of the land but most of the land was unused and was never taken possession by the respondent authorities. The remaining land of the Khasra No. 489 was acquired in the year 1985 as a borrow area for the construction of the canal but the possession of the entire borrow area was never taken. Since then, the petitioner has been cultivating the land. By virtue of Section 48 (1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, the State Government had to release the unused land but no action was taken. The grievance of the petitioner is that in the same area, the unused lands of other persons acquired for the said project has been released to them but not in the case of the petitioner and the same is arbitrary and discriminatory. Alternatively, by virtue of Section 24 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, as no physical possession has been taken , the land acquisition has lapsed because of the award being filled more than 5 years before the enactment- of 2013. Recently, the Gram Panchayat got a pond constructed illegally and forcibly on the part of khasra No. 384 and khasra No. 387 without any N.O.C. or permission from the respondent’s State. The petitioner was cultivating khasra No. 387 and 385. The petitioner made a complaint dated 16.05 2023 to the Collector, Jabalpur and even the documents sought from the gram panchayat were not made available to him.

3. Per contra, counsel appearing for the respondents / State as well as respondent no. 5 have vehemently opposed the contentions and submitted that the land of the petitioner was acquired way back in the year 1981 for the purpose of construction of a canal under the Bargi Left Bank Canal Project and after acquisition, compensation has already been paid to the petitioner. The petition filed by the petitioner is also time barred as the acquisition proceedings were completed in the year 1985 and there is no explanation in this regard. The petitioner has accepted the compensation with wide open eyes. Once the land is acquired and vested in the State Government, then t