MEWA LAL vs STATE OF U.P. . — C.A. No. 2104/2001

SUMMARY In this land acquisition case, the Supreme Court allowed Mewa Lal's appeals and set aside the High Court's judgment. The dispute concerned the timeliness of Lal's application for reference under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act—an award was passed on 23.9.1986 and the reference application filed on 20.3.1987. The Land Acquisition Officer dismissed it as time-barred, claiming the six-week deadline applied; the High Court confirmed this. The Supreme Court held that since the respondents failed to prove Lal was present when the award was passed, the six-month deadline applied, making the application timely. The Court directed the Land Acquisition Officer to proceed with the reference. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.